PROJECT PROPOSAL

STEPPING STONE

Originated by MHKHAN RUSSELL

AZAM SHAFIQ
BIDISHA SAHA

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1 Executive Summary

UK is aiming for NETZERO BY 2050.So, RBA group has carried out a high level study into the various
technologies to capture electricity from renewable sources like wind (offshore and onshore), tidal
wave, solar power and tidal waves. And then release the captured energy into the grid to level out
the supply during periods of non availability of renewable energy sources. The scope of the project
is to provide a pilot facility of 5GW to be placed outside urban areas. The facility should be able to
discharge full capacity during daily cycle.

Based on market report, the leading energy storage technology for UK os predicted to be battery
based.

And flow batteries are to be the main contender for the battery storage systems as shown below
based on number of companies engaged with the technology and projects already established.

Figure 1b:Location of flow batteries

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The capital cost is estimated to be 0.5 Million $ per MW. So a 5GW capacity plant would cost in the
range of 2 to 3 billion USD.

Figure 1 c: Storage capacities, location of flow batteries and

Following are the approximate figures of Levelized cost of energy for different sources

Maximum cost of wind onshore is 75 dollars per MWh

Maximum cost of wind onshore + storage = 114 dollars per MWh

So cost of storage = 114-75 = 45 dollars per MWh

Maximum cost of wind offshore + storage = 140 + 45 = 185 dollars per MWh

The most likely source competing with renewables is nuclear energy and is positioned to replace the
hydrocarbon based energy suppliers. Compared to max. cost of nuclear, the saving is = 45 dollars
per MWh

A storage system of capacity of 5GW discharging in 5 hours per day means 5GWh capacity or 45,000
dollars per day savings. And discounted over 25 years would provide a saving of 210 Million in term of
present value.

So the approximate return of 8% over an investment of 2.5 billion dollars is estimated which would
need further scrutiny after engaging with all stakeholders as there are others aspects associated with
the contracting strategy and scaling up.

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2 Table of Contents
1 Executive Summary .................................................................................................... 2
2 Table of Contents ....................................................................................................... 4
3 Introduction ............................................................................................................... 5
3.1 Project Location............................................................................................................... 5
3.2 Purpose and Scope .......................................................................................................... 5
4 Selection of Technology – Renewable Energy Storage ................................................. 6
5 Battery Energy Storage system ................................................................................... 8
6 Flow Cell technology ................................................................................................. 12
7 PESTLE Analysis ........................................................................................................ 12
7.1 Political ......................................................................................................................... 12
7.2 Economic ....................................................................................................................... 12
7.3 Social ............................................................................................................................. 13
7.4 Technology .................................................................................................................... 13
7.5 Legal .............................................................................................................................. 13
7.6 Environment.................................................................................................................. 13
8 Stakeholder Engagement Plan .................................................................................. 14
9 Risk Assessment ....................................................................................................... 14
10 High Level Economic Assessment .............................................................................. 14
11 Project Development ................................................................................................ 15
12 HSE ........................................................................................................................... 15

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3 Introduction
3.1 Project Location
The project site will be located in the outskirts of London.

3.2 Purpose and Scope

The purpose of this project is to identify a novel method to store bulk excess electricity produced from
renewable energy peaks to reduce the dependency on gas turbine power generation which counts
40% of domestic supply in UK. The electrical supply will be provided at the boundary of the facility in
HVDC form and have to be stored to manage daily fluctuations so it is expected that the reaction time
of the storage system should be to discharge its full capacity with in 5 to 6 hours.

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4 Selection of Technology – Renewable Energy Storage
There are various energy storage options available currently but wide research was carried out by the
Project Team to find most viable option considering the national interest in this particular project. A
brief overview of the various energy storage systems given below:

Thermal:

• Thermal system uses heating and cooling methods to store and release energy
• E.g., Molten salt stores solar generated heat and uses when there is no sun light
• E.g., Ice storge in building reduces the running compressor while still providing air
conditioning for several
• This system is still underdeveloped and could be used in domestic capacity only

Figure 2a:Thermal energy storage system

Pumped Hydro Power:

• Pumped hydroelectric power (PHP) facilities are the most common form of energy
storage on the grid
• PHP account for over 95% of the storage in use currently
• In this system, turbines pump water to an elevated reservoir using excess electricity
during the off-peak hours
• The reservoir opens to allow the retained water to flow through turbines and produce
electricity when demand is high
• This system could be challenging due to the terrain (upper and lower pool of water)
needed and large footprint

Figure 2a: Pumped hydro storage

Flywheel:

• Stores energy in a rapidly spinning mechanical rotors and are capable of absorbing
and releasing high power for 15 mins or less

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 • Flywheel system can balance fluctuations in electricity supply and demand where
they respond to a control signal adjusted every few seconds
• These systems can provide short-term power until back-up generation comes online
during a grid outage

Figure 2b.Flywheel(FESS)

Hydrogen storage:

• Electricity converted into Hydrogen through electrolysis of seawater and Trasport the
gas using existing gas pipeline
• Hydrogen can also be converted into liquid form and transport via pipeline various
Transporation method
• The technology is yet expensive as huge infrastructure requires for larger scale
storage

Compressed air:

• Compressed air energy storage system stores energy by using off-peak electricity to
compress air and store it in a reservoir
• CAES got advantage of high capacity, high power rating long-duration storage but it
has disadvantage of low power density, high transportation loses, and restriction by the
size and the availability of suitable geological locations.

Figure 2d: Compressed Air Energy Storage(CAES)

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5 Battery Energy Storage system
Battery is one of the oldest forms of energy storage system. There are various form of batteries,
including: lithium-ion, flow, Lead acid, sodium etc. All are designed to meet specific power and
duration requirements.

Lithium-ion, initially used for consumer products, now have a range of application including smaller
residential systems to multiple megawatt hours that can support the entire electric grid. These
systems have a small footprint for the amount of energy they store. For example, a utility-scale
system of 100 MWh could fit on less than 0.5 acres.

The most growing battery storage system is considered to be Flow Battery energy storage
technology. These storage systems are built from raw materials with higher availability and less
environmental impacts than lithium making them more sustainable. In terms of safety, a flow battery
has an operating system with fewer critical issues to manage than a lithium-ion battery, which
makes it easier to avoid harmful overloading and overheating.

Because of the specific technology, stored energy in and power supplied by flow batteries are not
intrinsically linked, this feature makes them especially suitable for storage systems for renewables.

The figure below illustrates the market share of energy storage system globally:

Figure 3: Global energy storage systems

Pumped hydro power system accounts 95% of global energy storage in use today. However,
sitting this system can be difficult because of the terrain needed and large footprint. High capital
cost, long construction timeframes, potential environment impacts are the added drawback for
this system.

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 Figure 4: Predicted energy storage capacity in UK, 2030

The above graph shows flow battery system will contribute about 85% of UK storage capacity in 2030
which makes it most viable option. This is one of the most flexible options where the power and
energy capacity can be decoupled in ion storage system as shown below.

Figure 5: Flow diagram of flow battery system

Flow battery systems is one of the cheapest options compared to the existing systems which make it
most attractive energy storage system as shown below.

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Figure 6: Capital cost per unit power

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 Figure 7: Data for the presence of flow battery storage companies worldwide

After careful consideration of above data provided by research group, the company decided to move
forward with the flow battery storage technology for this pilot project.

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6 Flow Cell technology
Flow battery is an emerging energy storage technology. Basically, a flow battery is an electrical
storage device which is a cross between a conventional battery and a fuel cell. In this system liquid
electrolyte of metallic salts is pumped through a core that consists of a positive and negative
electrode, separated by membrane. The Ion exchange that occurs between the cathode and anode
generates electricity.

Flow batteries rely on chemical reduction-oxidation (Redox) process to generate electricity. Two
chemical solutions called anolyte and catholyte are stored in tanks separated by membrane. Based
on the requirements the tank sizes are adjusted.

Figure 8: Schematic representation of the Flow Cell

7 PESTLE Analysis
Below id s the summary of the PESTLE analysis performed on the project definition.

7.1 Political
Following are the main items highlighted under political framework of the project.

• Government supports to raise the annual production capacity-NET ZERO by 2050

• Dedicated Power Ministry
• Brtiain's exit from EU-may reduce red tape
• Changing policies with new government

7.2 Economic
Following issues belong the economic domain of the project.

• Extreme weather add to the cost of operations of the Solar Energy Initiative as it has to
invest in making its supply chain more flexible.
• Declining cost of renewables
• Increasing labour charge
• Lower maintenance cost but high investment costs

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7.3 Social
Following items influence the social aspects of the project.

• Market is open to new technologies

• Increase in employment since 2015
• Research and development investment at both macro and micro level

7.4 Technology
Following are the technology related issues.

• Inexhaustible
• Scale up easily
• Easy monitoring and maintenance
• Maturity of technology

7.5 Legal
Following need to be considered in the legal area.

• Intellectual property rights, patents

• The UK leaving the EU may lead to changes in environmental legislation and relaxed or
increased regulation
• Operational changes - cost/training

7.6 Environment
Following will influence the project in relation to environment.

• Extreme weather is also adding to the cost of operations of the renewable initiative as it has
to invest in making its supply chain more flexible
• Effect of large scale wind farms on environment
• Clean and sustainable technology.

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8 Stakeholder Engagement Plan
The stake holder management plan is summarized below.

Figure 9: Stakeholder Plan

9 Risk Assessment
There are several risks associated with the technology chosen by the RBA group. These are
summarized below.

• Dependence on renewable resources is one the main risk as prolonged wind outages and
other weather factors can influence the usability of storage system.
• The regulatory policies are still under development and can influence the project
viabilities during the development phase.
• The underlining factors above can have great influence on the revenue stream.
• The supply chain is still maturing regarding the selected technology and also the
disinvestment strategy at end of life cycle is to be established.
• The confidence level of performance of selected technology is still building up and add
extra risk when being selected for a public infrastructure.

10 High Level Economic Assessment

The capital cost is estimated to be 0.5 Million $ per MW. So a 5GW capacity plant would cost in the
range of 2 to 3 billion USD.

Following are the approximate figures of Levelized cost of energy for different sources

Maximum cost of wind onshore is 75 dollars per MWh

Maximum cost of wind onshore + storage = 114 dollars per MWh

So cost of storage = 114-75 = 45 dollars per MWh

Maximum cost of wind offshore + storage = 140 + 45 = 185 dollars per MWh

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The most likely source competing with renewables is nuclear energy and is positioned to replace the
hydrocarbon based energy suppliers. Compared to max. cost of nuclear, the saving is = 45 dollars
per MWh

A storage system of capacity of 5GW discharging in 5 hours per day means 5GWh capacity or 45,000
dollars per day savings. And discounted over 25 years would provide a saving of 210 Million in term of
present value.

So the approximate return of 8% over an investment of 2.5 billion dollars.

Figure 10: Cost of Energy Comparison for a 25 year period between different energy sources

11 Project Development

A 30 kw unit of the battery has a footprint of 2 * 6 meters approximately. So around 170,000 units
will be required to built a 5GW facility with an approximate area of 1 square kilometer if they are
unstacked.

A sample timeline of a 50 MW battery storage system built near oxford is given below.

12 HSE
HSES shall be managed in accordance with COMPANY HSSE Requirements and in compliance with
COMPANY and regulatory requirements. The fundamental basis is to execute the project in
accordance with As Low As Practicably Possible (ALARP) safety principles.

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SUBCONTRACTOR HSES management shall aligned with project HSES Management plan and
comply with associated Company procedures.

SUBCONTRACTOR shall maintain documented information on evaluation of compliance to applicable

legal requirements and other requirements to demonstrate how these requirements have been taken
into consideration for the project.

The HSE plan shall comprise

• HSE management plan

• HSE training
• Quality
• Environment
• Emergency response
• Medical and Health
• Security
• Hazard Assessment

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References
Energy storage backed with over £32 million government funding - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
https://batteryuniversity.com/article/bu-210b-how-does-the-flow-battery-work

https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/engineering/flow-battery
Lazards-lcoeplus-april-2023.pdf (Lazard’s Levelized Cost of Energy Analysis—Version
16.0)
IRENA_Power_Generation.PDF (Renewable Power Generation Costs in 2021)
INVINITY-VS3-022 Vanadium.pdf (INVINITY VS3-022 SIX PACKTM
VANADIUM FLOW BATTERY)
Final _ESGC Cost per.pdf (Energy Storage Grand Challenge Cost and Performance Assessment
2020)
Energy Storage Systems Market Size, Trends Forecasts 2032.pdf

ELECTRICITY GENERATION COSTS 2020 (Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy-
August 2020)

Transformation in the construction industry: Keeping pace with change | White & Case LLP
(whitecase.com)

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