What is being billed as one of Europe’s largest battery energy storage systems entered service in England.

Developed by Harmony Energy Limited and using a Tesla 2-hour Megapack system, the Pillswood project, near Hull, has the capacity to store up to 196 MWh of electricity in a single cycle.

The project is expected to provide balancing services to the British electricity grid network and also enable the replacement of fossil fuels with renewable energy.

The site is adjacent to National Grid’s Creyke Beck substation, the same connection point proposed for phases “A” and “B” of the Dogger Bank wind farm, which is set to enter service next summer. 

Construction of the Pillswood project was managed by Tesla. The project was originally intended to become operational over two phases in December 2022 and March 2023. The timetable was accelerated to enable both phases to energize in November, in time to support National Grid in its efforts to provide stable and secure power to UK households over what is forecast to be a challenging winter.

Russia’s ongoing aggression against Ukraine has led to natural gas supply disruptions across Europe, affecting electricity production across the continent.

The project will be operated through Autobidder, Tesla’s algorithmic trading platform, which has managed the Holes Bay and Contego projects, two existing battery storage projects also developed by Harmony Energy Limited in conjunction with FRV.

Harmony Energy Income Trust said that Pillswood is the first of six similar projects the Trust plans to deliver in the coming year.