SEI upbeat following wind farm report

Sustainable Energy Ireland (SEI) has today published the results of a feasibility study for the implementation of a wind energy storage facility at Sorne Hill Wind Farm, Buncrana, Co. Donegal.

The study, which was jointly funded by SEI and Tapbury Management Limited, which oversees the management of Sorne Hill wind farm, examined the costs and benefits of integrating a battery-based power storage system with a 6MW wind farm.

“The feasibility report provides for the first time an initial technical and economic validation for a number of the key revenue streams that we had previously identified in relation to the integration of windpower and storage,” said John Ward, director of Tapbury Management.

“We will now build on these assumptions to finalise the project design and implementation of the pilot scheme at Sorne Hill II, which we hope to have operational by mid 2008.”

The analysis into the feasibility of using an innovative energy storage system showed how such a system could support an uninterrupted supply of wind-generated electricity to the national grid and significantly improve the efficiency of the energy produced.

The purpose of the report was to determine the optimum size for such a system in order to deliver an optimum return on investment, and to review the main benefits that this system would offer.

The report concluded that the optimum battery is a 2MW capacity battery delivering six hours of electricity storage.

“Ireland possesses a wind resource that is one of the best in Western Europe,” said SEI chief executive David Taylor. “In order to exploit this, SEI is supporting the development of strategically important technologies which will enable Ireland to use large amounts of wind power reliably.

“This will help Ireland reach the Government’s target to have one-third of Ireland's electricity supply coming from renewable sources by 2020.”