Are Goldman Sachs Stitching Together A Large Deal On Energy Storage?
In UK Infrastructure Bank, Centrica & Partners Invest £300M in Highview Power Clean Energy Storage Programme To Boost UK’s Energy Security, I talked about a deal to invest £300 million into energy storage company; Highview Power.
These three paragraphs are from the Highview Power news item, on which I based my post.
Highview Power has secured the backing of the UK Infrastructure Bank and the energy industry leader Centrica with a £300 million investment for the first commercial-scale liquid air energy storage (LAES) plant in the UK.
The £300 million funding round was led by the UK Infrastructure Bank (UKIB) and the British multinational energy and services company Centrica, alongside a syndicate of investors including Rio Tinto, Goldman Sachs, KIRKBI and Mosaic Capital.
The investment will enable the construction of one of the world’s largest long duration energy storage (LDES) facilities in Carrington, Manchester, using Highview Power’s proprietary LAES technology. Once complete, it will have a storage capacity of 300 MWh and an output power of 50 MWs per hour for six hours. Construction will begin on the site immediately, with the facility operational in early 2026, supporting over 700 jobs in construction and the supply chain.
Note.
- The UK Infrastructure Bank is a is a British state-owned development bank.
- Centrica plc is an international energy and services company.
- Rio Tinto is a leading global mining group that focuses on finding, mining and processing the Earth’s mineral resources.
- The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. is a leading global investment banking, securities and investment management firm.
- KIRKBI is the Kirk Kristiansen family’s private holding and investment company founded to build a sustainable future for the family ownership of the LEGO Group.
- Mosaic Capital are an American investment firm.
With six partners, that is just £50 million per partner.
As that sum is very much small change for the likes of these guys and the question of taking an equity stake is not mentioned in Highview Power’s news item, it looks like this deal could be a try-before-you-buy deal with some of the partners or a simple investment with others.
Consider.
- Gresham House, Gore Street and others have proven that investing in lithium-ion batteries give a good return on investment.
- The Carrington long duration energy storage facility will be located near to the 884 MW gas-fired Carrington power station. I suspect that Centrica and Rio Tinto will be interested to see how the hybrid power-station performs.
- Could the Lego Group owners be looking at using solar power, wind power and a LDES to reduce the carbon footprint of their stores?
I would assume, that all the investors would get full details on the performance of the batteries.
Someone To Build The LDES
In Bilfinger Drives Highview Power’s Innovative Storage Project, Accelerating The Energy Transition, I describe how German company will build the Carrington LDES.
The Advantages Of An LDES over a BESS
This is only a short list, of the advantages I see.
- An LDES is easily recyclable.
- The LDES has less exotic materials.
- An LDES can be built from zero-carbon steel.
- Highview are claiming a 40-year life for their LDES.
- Highview is already talking about 200MW/2.5GWh LDES systems.
- Two 200MW/2.5GWh systems working together with a wind or solar farm, can replace a 400 MW gas- or coal-fired station.
- I suspect one of Highview’s LDES systems could be placed offshore, if needed.
I also believe that Highview’s LDES systems could be incorporated into complex chemical plants to increase the efficiency.
Are Goldman Sachs Stitching Together A Large Deal On Energy Storage?
Everything now seems to be in place to build these LDES one after the other, to accelerate the energy transition.
With a good supply of orders and enough money to build each system, I cab see no reason, why several systems a month cannot be built and installed.
I have worked with companies like Goldman Sachs in the past, and I wouldn’t be surprised to find, that they have created the consortium, so that all members get the returns and recognition, they disserve.
Adding Lego Group To The Consortium Could Be A Masterstroke
The Lego Group has lots of stores and theme parks worldwide and a reputation for good design and environmental standards.
Last year, I wrote Bedford Depot’s Massive Solar Roof Helps Thameslink On Way To Net Zero. This was putting a solar roof on a rail depot, but surely buildings like this would be suitable for a Highview LDES.
Bilfinger Drives Highview Power’s Innovative Storage Project, Accelerating The Energy Transition
The title of this post, is the same as that of this press release from Bilfinger, who are a European multinational engineering and services company.
This is the first paragraph of the Wikipedia entry for Bilfinger.
Bilfinger SE (previously named Bilfinger Berger AG) is a European multinational company specialized in civil and industrial construction, engineering and services based in Mannheim, Germany.
Fifty years ago, I was playing a very small part in the designing of complex chemical plants for ICI. My part was mainly to check, the mathematics and dynamics for the designs, the engineers wanted to use.
The experience certainly left me with the belief, that to design a world-class chemical plant is not an easy process.
So if I was needing a complex chemical plant, I would call in the experts.
A Highview Power energy storage system, may not be a chemical plant, but it shares many of the factors of chemical plants, waterworks and sewage plants. So building one, needs a company, with wide experience, which Bilfinger certainly appear to have.
This paragraph from the press release, summarises Bilfinger’s roll in Hghview Power’s Manchester project to create a 50 MW/300 MWh battery based on Highview’s proprietary long duration energy storage system.
The scope of Bilfinger’s services ranges from the procurement of steel to extensive plant construction services, including mechanical, electrical, instrumentation, insulation, painting and structural steel work, along with the overall management of all aspects of construction, including civil works and equipment installation. As principal contractor, Bilfinger is committed to ensuring the highest safety standards on site.
In UK Infrastructure Bank, Centrica & Partners Invest £300M in Highview Power Clean Energy Storage Programme To Boost UK’s Energy Security, I described how Highview Power had recruited high-class backers to fix the companies finances.
It looks like the Bilfinger deal to build the first system, is the last piece of the jigsaw and will see Highview Power on its way.
UK Infrastructure Bank, Centrica & Partners Invest £300M in Highview Power Clean Energy Storage Programme To Boost UK’s Energy Security
The title of this post, is the same as that of this news item from Highview Power.
This is the sub-heading.
Highview Power kickstarts its multi-billion pound renewable energy programme to accelerate the UK’s transition to net zero in Carrington, Manchester.
These three paragraphs outline the investment.
Highview Power has secured the backing of the UK Infrastructure Bank and the energy industry leader Centrica with a £300 million investment for the first commercial-scale liquid air energy storage (LAES) plant in the UK.
The £300 million funding round was led by the UK Infrastructure Bank (UKIB) and the British multinational energy and services company Centrica, alongside a syndicate of investors including Rio Tinto, Goldman Sachs, KIRKBI and Mosaic Capital.
The investment will enable the construction of one of the world’s largest long duration energy storage (LDES) facilities in Carrington, Manchester, using Highview Power’s proprietary LAES technology. Once complete, it will have a storage capacity of 300 MWh and an output power of 50 MWs per hour for six hours. Construction will begin on the site immediately, with the facility operational in early 2026, supporting over 700 jobs in construction and the supply chain.
Note.
- The backers are of a high quality.
- The Carrington LDES appears to be a 50 MW/300 MWh battery.
It finally looks like Highview Power is on its way.
These are my thoughts on the rest of news item.
Centrica’s Involvement
This paragraph talks about Centrica’s involvement.
Energy leader Centrica comes on board as Highview Power’s strategic partner and a key player in the UK’s energy transition, supporting Carrington and the accelerated roll-out of the technology in the UK through a £70 million investment. The programme will set the bar for storage energy systems around the world, positioning the UK as the global leader in energy storage and flexibility.
I suspect that Centrica have an application in mind.
In Centrica Business Solutions Begins Work On 20MW Hydrogen-Ready Peaker In Redditch, I talk about how Centrica is updating an old peaker plant.
In the related post I refer to this news item from Centrica Business Systems.
This paragraph in the Centrica Business Systems news item, outlines Centrica’s plans.
The Redditch peaking plant is part of Centrica’s plans to deliver around 1GW of flexible energy assets, that includes the redevelopment of several legacy-owned power stations, including the transformation of the former Brigg Power Station in Lincolnshire into a battery storage asset and the first plant in the UK to be part fuelled by hydrogen.
As Redditch power station is only 20 MW, Centrica could be thinking of around fifty assets of a similar size.
It seems to me, that some of these assets could be Highview Power’s LDES batteries of an appropriate size. They may even be paired with a wind or solar farm.
Larger Systems
Highview Power’s news item, also has this paragraph.
Highview Power will now also commence planning on the next four larger scale 2.5 GWh facilities (with a total anticipated investment of £3 billion). Located at strategic sites across the UK, these will ensure a fast roll-out of the technology to align with UK LDES support mechanisms and enable the ESO’s Future Energy Scenario Plans.
Elsewhere on their web site, Highview Power say this about their 2.5 GWh facilities.
Highview Power’s next projects will be located in Scotland and the North East and each will be 200MW/2.5GWh capacity. These will be located on the national transmission network where the wind is being generated and therefore will enable these regions to unleash their untapped renewable energy potential and store excess wind power at scale.
So will the four larger systems have a 200MW/2.5GWh capacity?
They could, but 200 MW may not be an appropriate output for the location. Or a longer duration may be needed.
Highview Power’s design gives the flexibility to design a system, that meets each application.
Working With National Grid
Highview Power’s news item, also has this sentence.
Highview Power’s technology will also provide stability services to the National Grid, which will allow for the long-term replacement of fossil fuel-based power plants for system support.
Highview Power’s technology is also an alternative to Battery Energy Storage Systems (BESS) of a similar capacity.
How does Highview Power’s technology compare with the best lithium-ion systems on price, performance and reliability?
Curtailment Of Wind Farms
Highview Power’s news item, also has these two paragraphs.
This storage will help reduce curtailment costs – which is significant as Britain spent £800m in 2023 to turn off wind farms.
Highview Power aims to accelerate the roll-out of its larger facilities across the UK by 2035 in line with one of National Grid’s target scenario forecasts of a 2 GW requirement from LAES, which would represent nearly 20% of the UK’s long duration energy storage needs. By capturing and storing excess renewable energy, which is now the cheapest form of electricity, storage can help keep energy costs from spiralling, and power Britain’s homes with 24/7 renewable clean energy.
I can see several wind farms, that are regularly curtailed would have a Highview Power battery installed at their onshore substation.
Receently, I wrote Grid Powers Up With One Of Europe’s Biggest Battery Storage Sites, which described how Ørsted are installing a 300 MW/600 MWh Battery Energy Storage Systems (BESS) at Swardeston substation, where Hornsea Three connects to the grid.
I would suspect that the purpose of the battery is to avoid turning off the wind farm.
Would a Highview Power battery be better value?
What’s In It For Rio Tinto?
I can understand, why most companies are investing, but Rio Tinto are a mining company. My only thought is that they have a lot of redundant holes in the ground, that cost them a lot of money and by the use of Highview Power’s technology, they can be turned into productive assets.
Collateral Benefits
Highview Power’s news item, also has this paragraph.
Beyond contributing to the UK’s energy security by reducing the intermittency of renewables, Highview Power’s infrastructure programme will make a major contribution to the UK economy, requiring in excess of £9 billion investment in energy storage infrastructure over the next 10 years – with the potential to support over 6,000 jobs and generate billions of pounds in value add to the economy. It will also contribute materially to increasing utilisation of green energy generation, reducing energy bills for consumers and providing significantly improved energy stability and security.
If Highview Power can do that for the UK, what can it do for other countries?
No wonder companies of the quality of Centrica, Rio Tinto and Goldman Sachs are investing.
Carlton Power Secures Planning Consent For World’s Largest Battery Energy Storage Scheme
The title of this post, is the same as that of this news story from Carlton Power.
This is the sub-heading.
£750m 1GW Battery Project To Be Built At Carlton Power’s Trafford Low Carbon Energy Park In Greater Manchester
These three paragraphs outline the project.
Carlton Power, the UK independent energy infrastructure development company, has secured planning permission for the world’s largest battery energy storage scheme (BESS), a 1GW (1040MW / 2080MWh) project located at the Trafford Low Carbon Energy Park in Greater Manchester. The £750m BESS scheme will strengthen the security and resilience of the energy system in the North West of England, and support the energy transition and the growth of renewable power generation in the region.
Planning permission for the BESS was granted by Trafford Council, the local planning authority.
Subject to a final investment decision, construction of the battery storage scheme is expected to begin in the first quarter of next year (2024) with it entering commercial operation in the final quarter of 2025. Carlton Power is in advanced talks with companies to finance, build and operate the Trafford BESS.
I have a few thoughts.
It’s A Monster
This Wikipedia entry, lists the World’s Largest Grid Batteries.
- The current largest is Vistra Moss Landing battery in the United States, which has a capacity of 1600 MWh and an output of 400 MW.
- The Trafford BESS will have a capacity of 2080 MWh and an output of 1040 MW.
By both measures the Trafford BESS is larger.
Where Will It Get The Energy?
Consider.
- In Liverpool and Morecambe Bays there is over 5 GW of offshore wind farms either operational, under construction or planned.
- Carrington gas-fired power station has a capacity of 884 MW.
- The Western HVDC Link is a 2250 MW link between Scotland and Connah’s Quay in North Wales.
- I wrote about the proposed Mersey Barrage in Mersey Tidal Project And Where It Is Up To Now.
I can see enough renewable energy being generated to replace Carrington gas-fired power station.
Who Will Finance, Build And Operate The Trafford BESS?
There are two major Energy Storage Funds in the UK.
- Gore Street with 27 projects totalling 1.17 GW.
- Gresham House with 17 projects totalling 425 MW.
Note.
- There are other smaller funds.
- The figures given are cumulative outputs for the portfolios.
- Sourcing the large number of batteries might be a problem.
- As the maths of these batteries are now well-known, I would expect that finance shouldn’t be too much of a problem.
- Local companies like Liverpool Victoria or Peel Holdings could even take a position.
A large American contractor backed by US money could swallow the whole project.
That happened with North Sea oil and gas in the last century.
Is Highview Power’s CRYOBattery Still Planned?
Carlton Power’s news story says this about Highview Power’s plans.
In addition to Carlton Power’s two projects, Highview Power Storage Inc. is planning to build and operate the world’s first commercial liquid air storage system – a £250m 250MWh long duration, cryogenic energy storage system – on the Trafford Low Carbon Energy Park, which was until 1991 the site of the Carrington coal-fired power station. The Low Carbon Energy Park is located close to Manchester Ship Canal and the £750m Carrington flexible gas-fired power station which entered operation in 2016.
It seems that the CRYOBattery is still planned.
Conclusion
Manchester is getting a powerful zero-carbon hub.
How Liquid Air Could Solve The UK’s Energy Conundrum
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on The Telegraph.
The article is mainly an article that described the technology and it discloses a few facts.
- The Carrington plant should be delivered in 2024.
- Carrington will be a 30 MW/30 MWh system.
- Efficiency is around 50 %, but there are possibilities to raise it to 70 %.
- Australia is mentioned as a market.
- It is likely to be paired with supercapacitors or a flywheel to have a quick start.
- It seems to me, that turning an idea into a practical system is taking a lot of work and money, and a bit of a rethink.
But hopefully, the system will eventually be developed, as it does promise to be an energy storage system, that doesn’t make high demands on the environment in terms of expensive metals and rare earths.
Highview Power In The Daily Express
This article in the Daily Express is entitled The Storage Sites Around The UK That Could Provide Cheap Power To Millions Of Homes.
Highview Power gets a large mention for its plan for twenty storage sites around the UK.
This is said about their planned sites at Carrington and on Humberside.
It is hoped that the first plant, a £250million Manchester station, will come online as early as 2024. It will have a 30megawatts capacity, able to store 300megawatt hours of electricity, enough to supply 600,000 homes with clean power for an hour.
The next plants will be even larger in scale, with four a five planned for Humberside with a 200megawatt/2.5gigwatt hour capacity. The CRYOBattery site would be able to store excess energy generated by the Dogger Bank, Hornsea and Sofia wind farms.
There is also a comprehensive map, with sites indicated at places like Aberdeen, Anglesey, Inverness, Liverpool, Montrose, Norfolk and Sizewell.
The sites seem to be following the wind, which is where excess power needs to be stored and released, when the wind is on strike.
MAN Energy Partners With Highview Power On Liquid-Air Energy-Storage Project
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on Renewable Energy Magazine.
This is the introductory paragraph.
Highview Power, a leader in long duration energy storage solutions, has selected MAN Energy Solutions to provide its LAES turbomachinery solution to Highview Power for its CRYOBattery™ facility, a 50 MW liquid-air, energy-storage facility – with a minimum of 250MWh – located in Carrington Village, Greater Manchester , U.K.
The article is almost a word-for-word copy of this press release from MAN Energy Solutions, which has a similar title to this post and the Renewable Energy Magazine article.
As an Electrical Engineer who has done a lot of work in Project Management, I find these two paragraphs significant.
Construction will proceed in two phases. Phase 1 will involve the installation of a ‘stability island’, to provide near-instantaneous energy grid stabilisation. This will be achieved using a generator and flywheel, among other components. Enabling short-term stabilisation will provide the basis for Phase 2 and the completion of the more complex liquid air energy storage system that includes various compressors, air expanders and cryogenic equipment.
Phase 2 will represent the integration of stability services with a full-scale long-duration energy storage system, and in doing so promote the full integration of renewable energy. The Carrington project will offer a blueprint for future projects and cement the partnership between MAN Energy Solutions and Highview Power.
I first became acquainted with the use of flywheels to stabilise energy, when I was working in Enfield Rolling Mills as a vacation job at sixteen.
The centerpiece of their factory was a rolling mill, which took heated copper wirebars about two metres long amd ten centimetres square and rolled them into thick copper wire just a few millimetres in diameter. The mill was driven by a powerful electric motor, to which it was connected with a 97 tonne flywheel perhaps four metres in diameter in between. The flywheel spun at probably 3000 revolutions per minute.
The wirebar used to meander through the rolling mill several times and at each turn, the head would be caught by a man with a pair of tongs and turned back through the mill.
Each time the wire-bar went through a new pair of rolls the energy needed increased, as there was more rolling to do. So this extra energy was taken from the flywheel!
The rolling mill incidentally had been built by Krupp before the First World War. It still had the Krupp trademark of three interlocked railway tyres all over it. It had ended up in Enfield as reparations after the First World War. Enfield Rolling Mills added a fourth ring to create their own trademark.
It would appear that the kinetic energy of that flywheel could be as high as 1.6 MWh. Flywheels also react very fast.
Flywheel energy storage would appear to be a feasible intermediate energy store for this type of application.
I always remember Shimatovitch, who was the Chief Engineer of the company had jokingly once said that if the flywheel came off its bearings, it would have ended up a couple of miles away and would have demolished all the houses in its path. But he was a man with a dark sense of humour, who had spent most of the Second World War in a Nazi concentration camp.
Could it be that Phase 1 is the installation of a similar system to that I saw working in the 1960s, but upgraded with modern electronics, which exchanges power with the grid to create the stability island referred to in the press release.
In Phase 2 electricity can be passed to and from the CRYOBattery.
Looking at the MAN Energy Solutions web site, I suspect that they don’t care what sort of energy store they connect to the grid.
They would appear to be an excellent choice of engineering partner for Highview Power.
I also wonder how many other applications and customers, they will bring into the partnership.
Conclusion
This looks like a very sensible and low-risk strategy to connect the CRYOBattery to the grid.
Highview Power Begins 2021 With 4 GWh Of CRYOBattery Storage In Global Pipeline
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on Solar Builder.
Read the article to find out how Highview Power are progressing with partners, offices and projects all over the world.
Not bad for an idea, that was invented in a garage in Bishops Stortford.
The article points to this video produced by the BBC.
If there’s one new venture, I wish I’d have a share of, it is this one.
- One of the projects, I worked on at ICI was optimising the size of a new plant to make plastic granules. I learned a great deal about how process plants can be scaled and their mathematics and economics.
- I believe that Highview Power’s CRYOBaterries fit with everything I know and are just world-class process engineering arranged in a unique way, which means they can be built in any country, where modern process plant technology is available and can be run and serviced by skilled engineers and technologists.
- Their partnership with the likes of Sumitomo Heavy Industries means, Highview Power, probably has access to the best technology, for some of the components needed.
After reading the article in Solar Builder, I now feel that Highview Power are on their way!
One of the first places, I shall visit after lockdown ends is Carrington near Manchester, to take pictures of the site of Highview Power’s 50 MW/250 MWh system, that is being built at Carrington.
Highview Power Breaks Ground on 250MWh CRYOBattery Long Duration Energy Storage Facility
The title of this post, is the same as that of this News page on the Highview web site.
The page shows this picture of diggers doing, what they do.
Note the two towers in the background of the image on the right. They look like the towers of Carrington power station, which are shown on this page on the FK Group web site, who built the 884 MW CCGT power station.
This Google Map shows the site of the power station.
On a larger scale map, you can pick out the towers from their shadows and it looks to me, that Highview’s 250MWh CRYOBattery is being built on the vacant site to the South of the power station.
Consider.
- The vacant site looks large.
- I’ve read somewhere that Highview’s CRYOBatteries are expandable by adding more tanks.
- They certainly have space to add lots of extra tanks and a 884 MW power station on the doorstep to fill them.
- All the heavy equipment and components to build Carrington power station were brought in by barge using the River Mersey and the Manchester Ship Canal. Will this method be used again?
This seems to be a site that would be ideal for a very large battery.
The Anonymous Widower 