Ireland’s ESB opens 75 MW/150 MWh battery plant

Ireland’s ESB has opened a battery energy storage system at its Poolberg site in Dublin.

Operational since November, the battery plant is capable of providing 75 MW of energy for two hours to Ireland’s electricity system. It features high-capacity batteries that store excess renewable energy for discharge when required.

ESB said the site, which is billed as the largest of its kind in commercial operation in Ireland, will add “fast-acting energy storage to help provide grid stability and deliver more renewables on Ireland’s electricity system.”

ESB partnered with energy storage specialists Fluence and Irish companies Kirby Group and Powercomm Group to complete the project. It is part of a series of major battery plants, with a total investment of up to €300 million ($323.6 million). The rest of the projects are due to be completed this year.

“Energy storage like this major battery plant at the ESB’s flagship site in Poolbeg will be a core part of Ireland’s new renewable energy transition and will play a key role in balancing our new, homegrown power supply,” said Eamon Ryan, Ireland’s Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications. “No electricity system can operate without a backup. In Ireland this has traditionally been provided by fossil fuel generation. However, into the future, we can store increasing amounts of wind and solar power in energy storage projects and use it to support the system instead of relying on dirty and expensive coal or gas.”

The Irish government has set a target of producing 80% renewable electricity by 2030. The results of its latest renewables auction were announced last September.