United Kingdom

Scotland aims to install 25 GW of electrolyzer capacity by 2050.

U.K.-based energy company InterGen has received planning permission to deploy 320 MW/640 MWh of capacity at a logistics park near London. The storage complex is planned to provide fast-reacting power and system balancing with an initial, two-hour duration.

Southern Waters is considering buying electricity from generation facilities on its sites in southern England. After launching a request for information process last year, it is now seeking bids from independent power producers.

The government’s Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy has drafted secondary legislation aimed at easing the construction of large scale energy storage projects for renewables. Around 100 such batteries could be deployed thanks to the proposed rules, according to the department.

Hive Energy has been planning the Cleve Hill Solar Park since 2017. It now expects to secure final approval from the U.K. Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy by the end of this month.

The country’s cumulative capacity reached reached 13.35 GW at the end of 2019. The statistics also show that 2019 may have been the slowest year for the UK solar industry since 2010. According to the UK Solar Trade Association, however, the official figures released by the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strateg are based on incomplete datasets and growth, particularly for PV systems above 50 kW in size, should be stronger.

Co-location of solar and storage may accelerate the deployment of profitable merchant renewable energy projects in the United Kingdom, according to a report by Aurora Energy Research. The study predicts installed solar capacity in the U.K. may increase from around 13 GW next year to 19 GW in 2030 and 32 GW in 2040.

Box Energi says its planned EV fast charging network in the U.K. will be one of the largest single-country DC networks in the world, and that it will be supplied with 100% renewable energy.

The latest government figures show utility scale solar had near-zero growth in 12 months. Although excluded from the Contracts for Difference procurement regime, large scale projects may experience a resurgence thanks to unsubsidized schemes linked to bilateral power supply deals, with the Solar Trade Association predicting 400 MW of such projects may be finalized this year.

The “Project Centurion” will allow the testing of ITM Power’s Proton Exchange Membrane (PEM) electrolyser at Inovy’s Runcorn Site, where hydrogen is being produced as a co-product of the chlor-alkali process.