Published: 29 Nov 2021, 11:51
Gore Street’s Drumkee battery storage system, which was called on after two gas generators tripped on 22 November. Image: Gore Street.
Gore Street Energy Storage Fund’s Kilmannock battery energy storage system (BESS) in Co. Wexford, Ireland, has received an additional grid volume allocation of 90MW, building on the 30MW currently secured.
The expansion of the BESS – which is currently under development by the listed energy storage fund – was given a grid connection offer through Eirgrid and ESB Networks’ enduring connection policy (ECP) process last week. This also saw 1,533MW of solar, six hybrid solar-plus-storage sites consisting of 325MW of solar and 441MW of battery storage and another standalone battery storage site receive grid connection offers.
The increased asset capacity of Kilmannock will lower the price per MW of construction, further increasing the price advantage of the asset, Gore Street said.
The company’s portfolio consists of over 600MW of operating and under construction projects in the UK and Ireland as of 19 November 2021, with 310MW of assets across the island of Ireland.
Indeed, two of Gore Street’s operational assets in its Irish portfolio, Drumkee and Mullavilly, were called into action to prevent a blackout on the Irish transmission network following the sudden loss of two conventional generators – Whitegate and Dublin Bay – on Monday 22 November.
“With the ever-growing number of renewable energy assets being developed and connected to grid networks, the need for energy storage projects is increasing exponentially over the coming years and we believe that Gore Street is in an excellent position to capitalise on this growing demand,” said Alex O’Cinneide, CEO of Gore Street Capital.