RES has won a contract from Western Power Distribution (WPD) to build and support its first battery energy storage system alongside British Solar Renewables 1.5MW solar park at Copley Wood in Somerset.

The £1m project (€1.3m) is part of a WPD-led initiative to investigate the technical and commercial feasibility of battery energy storage combined within distributed generation installations in the UK.

The engineering, procurement and construction contract will see RES build a 300kVA/640kWh project that will demonstrate nine different applications of energy storage on the grid.

RES will also provide ongoing warranty support during the battery’s operation and use RESolve, its energy storage control and dispatch system, to provide 24/7 management of the battery’s operation.

The storages system will be supplied by BYD and will be fully self-contained.

It is being delivered through Ofgem’s Network Innovation Allowance, and is being run in conjunction with BSR and the National Solar Centre.

RES managing director for Western Europe Gordon MacDougall commented the news:

“This project marks an important milestone for RES, as we are bringing the energy storage expertise we’ve developed in North America to the UK for the very first time. Our experience of delivering almost 80MW of energy storage globally has given us the ability to provide proven and reliable energy storage solutions, and we are confident that this project will open the door for other opportunities in the UK.”