World’s largest BESS plans bolster Trafford Low Energy Park success

The site, eight miles south of central Manchester, has been awarded planning permission for a £750million battery energy storage scheme, close to a new 200MW green hydrogen development and a liquid-air long duration energy storage plant.

Carlton Power is behind the battery energy storage scheme (BESS) project, which it claims would be the largest of its kind in the world. Built on an old coal-fired power station, it could hold enough energy to power 36,000 homes for one week. 

Proposals are now subject to a final investment decision, and the company is in talks with a number of potential partners for finance, build and operational contracts. Based on current timelines, the facility could be online by 2025, with construction beginning next year. 

Battery storage is a vital building block to a low carbon energy grid, and is required to store power which can compensate for intermittency in other sources, for example wind. The Manchester development could have an output of 2080MWh, a huge leap from California’s 400MW Moss Landing Energy Storage Facility – currently the largest in the world. 

Carlton already has an interest in Trafford Park, where the Low Carbon Energy Park is located. A 200MW green hydrogen source was the company’s first investment in the neighbourhood, the largest consented in the UK to date, for which it just confirmed one of the country’s first hydrogen pipelines. The overall development also includes Li-ion battery energy storage and cryobattery liquid-air energy storage projects. 

‘The two schemes will help address our climate crisis – one of Trafford Council’s corporate priorities – and will support our region’s plan to reach a target of net-zero carbon emissions by 2038.  I applaud Carlton Power’s long-term vision in developing the Trafford Low Carbon Energy Park,’ said Cllr Tom Ross, Trafford Council leader and Green City-Region lead for Greater Manchester. 

As Environment Journal has reported in recent weeks, major delays are impacting renewable energy projects across the UK due to a bottleneck at the National Grid. Some organisations have been told they may be waiting years for a connection. According to Carlton, existing BESS projects at the Trafford Low Carbon Energy Park have a fast-track connection due for completion later this year.

More on UK clean energy and battery storage: 

https://environmentjournal.online/headlines/local-governments-speak-out-about-national-grid-clean-energy-delays/

https://environmentjournal.online/headlines/solar-home-systems-promise-universal-renewable-power-for-africa/

https://environmentjournal.online/headlines/is-the-uk-facing-a-renewable-energy-crisis/

Image: Carlton Power