Pivot and Wärtsilä Partners in Battery Storage Development

The UK-based Pivot Power, a section of EDF Renewables, has announced it has struck a deal with Wärtsilä - a technology company that prides itself on supporting sustainability practices - to implement two new grid-scale battery storage facilities in Coventry and Sandwell, UK. 

Pivot Power’s Renewal Energy Plans

The deal will provide much-needed development of net-zero practices in the West Midlands and other parts of the UK. The projects will extend power storage capabilities by 100MWh to 200MWh, which is enough electricity to power 200,000 homes for two hours. 

The deal is part of a wider plan at Pivot Power, which involves the nationwide roll out of Energy Superhubs capable of up to 2GW of transmission-connected battery storage and high-volume power connections. This project will support the expansion of renewable energy usage and create the necessary infrastructure required for mass-scale installation of rapid electric vehicle (EV) charging stations.

This strategy will support the wider ambition of EDF to become Europe’s leading company for e-mobility by 2023, and forms a key pillar of its plan to generate 10GW of additional global energy storage by 2035. 

‘This is the next step in our nationwide rollout of Energy Superhubs which will create the low carbon infrastructure needed to support the EV and renewable energy revolution’, says Matt Allen, Chief Executive Officer at Pivot Power. ‘As part of EDF Renewables, Pivot Power’s purpose is to accelerate a net-zero future where clean energy powers our lives. [...] We are working hand in hand with local authorities to help them meet their climate and clean air pledges, so people can live and work in [a] cleaner, more sustainable cities’. 

Andy Tang, Vice President for Energy Storage and Optimisation at Wärtsilä, has explained the reasoning behind the project. ‘The UK recently set a bold ambition to slash carbon emissions by 78% by 2035 and flexibility is the key to achieving 100% renewables and decarbonising the economy’, says Tang. 

‘Our energy storage systems are helping leading innovators like Pivot Power turn these ambitions into reality. [...] The enhanced flexibility this project will provide is precisely what we need to accelerate our cost-optimal pathway to 100% clean power’. 

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