Williams Advanced Engineering, the division of Williams that commercialises Formula One derived technologies, is embarking on a project to install flywheel energy storage technology in two remote Scottish island communities.
The Isle of Eigg and Fair Isle will be the first sites in Europe to install Formula One developed composite flywheel energy storage technology into their power networks. The project is being partially funded by an extended grant from the Department of Energy and Climate Change’s (DECC) Energy Entrepreneurs Fund. Williams Advanced Engineering has joined forces with the Fair Isle Electricity Company and Eigg Electric. The Fair Isle power network relies heavily on wind turbines and diesel generators to supplement the power system and can only guarantee power during the day. Their flywheel technology will smooth the power flowing from the wind turbines and inject stored energy when needed. The Isle of Eigg power network utilises a variety of renewable sources and currently uses lead acid batteries to store excess renewable energy and smooth the flow of power. Williams’ flywheel energy storage system can take on this role so that the batteries can then be used for their main job of long term bulk energy storage. This will not only prolong battery life but also improve the transient response of the network and increase its fault clearing capability.