Sustainable Energy Ireland (SEI) has announced that it is to provide 50% funding to Irish company, Tapbury Management, for a study into a new electricity storage system which could guarantee an uninterrupted supply of wind generated electricity to the national grid.
If successful the technology would allow wind energy generated at off-peak times to be stored and supplied to the grid at a scheduled time. Currently, electricity generated by wind farms at off-peak times cannot be stored directly and is lost if unused. Tapbury which oversees the management of Sorne Hill Windfarm in County Donegal, where the study will be undertaken, is to begin testing a Vanadium Redox Battery Energy Storage System (“VRB-ESS”) from Canadian company VRB Power Systems Inc. If successful, Tapbury is aiming to progress the project to full scale deployment commencing in 2007. The battery is expected to have a capacity of 1.5MW providing 8 hours of storage making it the largest deployment of a battery of this type in Europe.