Hydrogen, battery and thermal ‘will all play a role in the energy storage mix’

The energy sector convened in Manchester to discuss the latest developments in energy storage.

How can the North West of England best take advantage of the opportunity in energy storage? The E-FWD Momentum Morning in Manchester put the sector in focus.

There are some clear regional positives, on geography, battery storage – and willpower. But questions on energy resilience, and therefore cost, continue to challenge deployment of other technologies, such as hydrogen.

Perhaps the most overlooked aspect of electrifying Great Britain lies in grid stability, though.

One panellist highlighted the need for grid resilience.

“Dispatchable power from power stations has a huge role to play in supporting and facilitating non-dispatchable power for the grid that isn’t purely reliant on wind and solar, which can fluctuate.”

Pointing to the Iberian Peninsula blackout in April last year as an example, they added: “Ultimately, the key thing is to build that resilience in the grid and the infrastructure around the grid, particularly at a local level.

“Battery storage in particular has a huge role to play for that, to facilitate that local grid infrastructure and ultimately build a more resilient national grid.”

Now under construction at Trafford Energy Park near Manchester, the Carrington storage facility was a key part of the debate.

Once constructed, the site will be one of the largest commercial-scale long-duration energy storage and grid stability platforms.

Grid stabilisation is a core focus for the first phase of the development, which is set to be operational from 2026.

Phase 2 will deliver 300 MWh of storage and an output of 50 MW for six hours.

Costs dominate energy storage talk

While energy security is the talk of the moment, consumers have often proved resistant to paying for resilience.

“Resilience is critical, but the question is, who pays and how much should that cost be?” one panellist posed.

“Ultimately, there will be a cost,” they added. This will be “spread, both on the consumer, on government and ultimately on the generator and profit they can take from any scheme.”

Hydrogen down but not out

Hydrogen came into the debate here. The resource has seen a number of setbacks following the hype of 2020-21.

Another speaker highlighted the role hydrogen can play if storage duration exceeds the current battery storage capabilities.

“If we haven’t got any wind for a long period of time and it’s really cold, then you need a solution. That involves molecules, but it doesn’t have to be a fossil fuel.

“It could be hydrogen, which has a place going forward. But the question is what does that look like?”

Another panellist interjected to call for a results-based approach, “which is learning by doing. Build out from pilot projects before you try and wrestle with what the energy system needs to look like.

“When you start at the other extreme, it’s a very complicated stroke, you become paralysed by complications.”

Energy storage players need to ‘stick together’

The debate around which energy storage technology should be deployed led to more questions around whether these sectors are pulling apart or coming together.

The answer? Probably both.

One delegate implored: “We can’t say no to everything. Everything’s got to come to work together. We’ve got battery, thermal and salt cavern options which can store energy for different time periods.

“So a little bit of everything is needed. It is not a competition and the UK has had a very strong backbone in innovation and engineering for many years.”

Floyd March is North of England correspondent at Energy Voice. His specialisms include hydrogen, nuclear, and CCS – all with a close eye on how the UK is navigating the energy transition.

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