OREANDA-NEWS. NEC Corporation announced that NEC Energy Solutions, a leading developer and manufacturer of advanced energy storage systems, has completed commissioning of six new GSS(TM) sites in the United Kingdom for Northern Powergrid.

In total, the systems have nearly 2.9MW of power and 5.7MWh of energy storage capacity, and were installed in substations in both urban and rural locations as part of the Customer-Led Network Revolution (CLNR), a three-year smart grid project in the U.K. funded in part through the Office of the Gas and Electricity Markets' (Ofgem) Low Carbon Networks Fund.  The largest, a 2.5MW, 5MWh GSS(TM) in Darlington, is located in an urban industrial area, while one of the smallest, a 50kW GSS(TM), is located in a residential area in Wooler, a small town in the northern part of England.

"Part of the challenge of installing energy storage in these areas was the wide diversity in the various sites," said Ian Lloyd, CLNR technology manager at Northern Powergrid. "We needed battery systems that could fit into a range of electricity distribution substations, so it was important to have a very flexible battery design to accommodate our very different locations."

Energy storage is a key component of the CLNR smart grid project, and will be used to help integrate more solar and wind energy into the UK's electricity network, as well as supporting other low-carbon technologies.  To fit the needs of the project at four of the six sites, NEC Energy Solutions supplied lithium-ion based grid battery systems packaged in a variety of enclosures including standard 40-foot containers and smaller customized enclosures.  The last two locations required energy storage systems installed directly into pre-existing buildings, and serve to demonstrate the flexibility of NEC Energy Solutions' modular and scalable designs.

"This project enables distribution network operators in the U.K. to implement new technologies designed to increase energy efficiency and support the adoption of clean energy, which represents an excellent opportunity to showcase the flexibility of our products," said Bud Collins, CEO of NEC Energy Solutions.  "Our versatile battery energy storage solutions have the proven ability to deliver multiple high-value grid services such as frequency response, operating reserves and many others, and we look forward to demonstrating how advanced lithium ion battery energy storage can help usher in a new, low-carbon energy future in the U.K. "

NEC Corporation recently acquired A123 Energy Solutions, the grid energy storage business of A123 Systems, in a \\$100M deal that was finalized this past May.  NEC Energy Solutions is affirming its commitment to smart energy storage and showcasing its industry-leading GSS(TM) at the ESA 24th Annual Conference being held this week in Washington, D.C.