Masdar and Statoil Ink Batwind Pact

Abu Dhabi-based Masdar and Norway’s Statoil have signed a collaborative agreement to analyse data from the Batwind battery system designed to store energy generated by the Hywind Scotland floating wind farm.

The two companies agreed to explore the battery’s potential for further applications and business opportunities.

Under the terms of the agreement, the parties will purchase, test and install Batwind to investigate how the battery storage solution can be leveraged to improve the operational and cost efficiency of offshore wind farms.

“The intermittent nature of solar and wind energy pose challenges for dependable power supply and grid stability. Energy storage is key to overcoming these challenges and unlocking the full potential of renewables,” said Bader Al Lamki, Masdar’s Executive Director for Clean Energy.

“By partnering with Statoil on the Batwind project, Masdar is addressing this critical need for affordable, reliable and regionally-optimized battery technologies and strengthening the viability of energy storage solutions. This has the potential to deliver far-reaching benefits in the development of renewables as a baseload power source.”

The battery will be located at the onshore substation of Hywind Scotland – which is located off the coast of Aberdeenshire, Scotland – and connected to the offshore wind farm at the grid entry point.

Sebastian Bringsværd, Head of Hywind Development in New Energy Solutions, said: “With more renewables coming into production it will be crucial to handle storage to ensure predictable energy supply in periods without wind or sun. Batwind has the potential to add value by mitigating periods without wind – and by that making wind a more reliable energy producer year around. This could expand the use and market for wind and renewables in the future.”

The 30MW Hywind Scotland, which was inaugurated in October 2017, is the world’s first floating offshore wind farm. Masdar holds a 25 percent stake in the project with Statoil, who owns the remaining 75 percent.

The collaboration is Masdar’s second offshore wind partnership with Statoil – the first being the recently launched Dudgeon offshore wind farm. Combined with London Array, the two projects bring the total offshore wind capacity of the UK renewable energy projects in which Masdar is an investor to over 1,000MW.