NEC Energy Solutions (NEC ES), a wholly-owned subsidiary of NEC Corporation, has commissioned a total of 50 MW of energy storage projects in the UK with VLC Energy. It is a joint venture between Low Carbon, a renewable energy investment company, and VPI Immingham, owner of combined heat and power plants in Europe and part of the Vitol Group.
The 50MW portfolio, which is now fully operational and includes a 40 MW facility in Glassenbury in Kent and a 10 MW installation in Cleator in Cumbria, represents the largest portfolio of utility-scale battery energy storage systems connected to the UK grid. The Cleator and Glassenbury sites secured two contracts with National Grid in August 2016 for battery energy storage systems to provide Enhanced Frequency Response (EFR) to the UK system operator.
NEC ES provided turnkey engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) services which included its GSS® end-to-end grid storage solution, and was contracted to operate the sites to provide the EFR service directly to the National Grid.
