On December 15, the second phase of the UK MinetyBattery Storage Project -- The Stonehill Project, developed by China Huaneng Group Co. Ltd., officially started construction. Mr. LI Xiangliang, Vice President of China Huaneng Group, Mr. YANG Mi, Economic and Commercial Counselor of the Chinese Embassy in the UK, representatives from the British Department of International Trade and relevant construction units attended the groundbreaking ceremony.

With the designed installed capacity of 49.9 MW and energy storage capacity of 99.8 MWh, the Stonehill Project applieda fully-localized battery storage system. The Stonehill Project will be coordinated, operated and managed with the first phase of the UK MinetyBattery Storage Project, participating in peak shaving, frequency regulation and other auxiliary services.

As a demonstration project for the cooperation between China and the UK in new energy, the Stonehill Project was listed as one of the 18 projects supporting UK’s green and low-carbon development at the UK 2021 Global Investment Summit. The Stonehill Project will greatly contribute to the stable operation of the West London power grid and underpin UK’s"2050 Net Zero" goal. British Prime Minister Boris Johnson stated that these 18 projects initiated the establishment of a new partnership for green growth in the UK.

Mr. LI Xiangliang announced the groundbreaking of the Stonehill Project. He said that with the decarbonized, digitized and smart transition of the world’s energy production and consumption, the proportion of new energy power generation is increasing, which brings huge challenges to the flexibility of the power grid. Featuring rapid response and two-way charging and discharging, battery storage is one of the main technologies to raise the flexibility of the power grid. The Stonehill Projectwill further enhance the flexibility and security of UK’s power grid, enable the grid to absorb more renewable energy, and write a new chapter for the win-win cooperation between companies in China and the UK.

Mr. YANG Mi congratulated the groundbreaking of the Stonehill Project. He pointed out that China Huaneng is at the forefront of efforts for promoting green development of China and the UK.He hoped that the Stonehill Project could shine the China-UK green development cooperationand set an example for the development of other China-invested enterprises in the UK.

The first phase of the UK Minety Battery Storage Project began commercial operation on June 30 last year, with an installed capacity of 99.8 MW. The main equipment is manufactured and integrated by Chinese companies, with localization rate exceeding 70%. The project is currently the largest grid-side single battery storage power stationin Europe and the first large-scale batterystorage project constructed by a Chinese power enterprise in a developed country.

KeyFacts Energy: Renewable Energy news