Smart energy service provider Q Energy clinched the predictive maintenance and performance monitoring deal for Europe’s largest battery storage project with the 100-megawatt (MW) system switched on by Shell in Minety, Wiltshire.
The energy storage scheme, created and developed by Penso Power, will play a
major part in balancing the UK’s increasingly renewables-reliant electricity
grid, providing electricity for up to 10,000 homes a day before needing recharging.
After the first phase of 100MW of battery storage, the second will begin later in the
year and take the total size to 150MW.
Andy Worthington, head of delivery at Q Energy, said: “It’s a privilege to be selected
to contribute to this truly groundbreaking and globally-significant project.
“We have developed relationships with major international energy industry players as a result and demonstrated the value of Q Energy technology and expertise.
“We are looking to work on similar solar, wind and battery storage projects to connect our portfolio of SME business energy customers, enabling them to get cheaper, green, locally-sourced energy.”
Q Energy has built a bespoke battery performance monitoring system for the project in Wiltshire with an intuitive and visual dashboard showing real-time operational data.
It will allow for greater quantities of clean electricity generated by solar and wind to not only balance demand and supply for cost reduction but also support optimal use of the lowest carbon power, which will be key to achieving the UK's net zero targets.
The system provided by Q Energy collects sub-second, real-time battery cell data which can record up to 18,000 data points every 10 seconds.
Insights from the data are then visualised into a responsive web dashboard with a simple intuitive user interface. Big data analytics help the system compare the batteries’ actual performance with that expected while identifying any errors and abnormalities which would then trigger an alert for the operation and maintenance team to address the issues, ensuring a smooth process and long-term performance.
Q Energy was founded in 2018 by Dr Li Yao and Vijay Natarajan in Manchester with a vision of building zero carbon communities using the Internet of Things (IoT) and artificial intelligence.