Pillswood Battery Energy Storage System (BESS)
Pillswood, Cottingham, East Yorkshire, England (also referred to as Cottingham Battery Storage) · 2022–Present (Operational late 2022) [1] [2] · £210 million (Harmony Energy Income Trust acquired and funded the project) [3]
The judgement call
Account-gated at launchPillswood BESS is a multi-award winning project that significantly contributes to the UK's energy security and enables greater integration of renewable energy sources. It demonstrates the rapid deployment capabilities of large-scale battery storage. [2] [5]
Key engineering challenges
Deploying Europe's largest battery storage project (by MWh at the time of launch) to provide grid stability and flexibility. [2] - Integrating a large number of Tesla Megapack units and associated electrical infrastructure. [4] - Accelerating the project timeline to launch both necessary phases rapidly. [5]
Project facts
- Client / owner
- Harmony Energy (developer), Harmony Energy Income Trust (owner) [2] [3]
- Lead contractor
- Tesla (supplied Megapack battery units), Wilsons Power Solutions (MV/LV transformers) [4]
- Lead designers
- —
- Project type
- new build
- Scale
- 98 MW / 196 MWh capacity; 78 individual Tesla Megapack battery units; enough energy to power around 300,000 homes for two hours. [1] [4]
- Disciplines
- electrical; chemical; civil; project management
- Standards & frameworks
- UK grid codes.
Sources: Wilson Power Solutions: 98MW/196MWh Pillswood BESS (https://wilsonpowersolutions.co.uk/projects/pillswood-bess) [1] - Harmony Energy: Pillswood BESS (https://harmonyenergy.co.uk/case-studies/pillswood-bess/) [2] - Harmony Energy: How we delivered the 98MW/196MWh Pillswood BESS (https://www.harmonyenergy.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/Harmony-Energy-final.pdf) [3] - Energy-Storage.news: How we delivered the 98MW/196MWh Pillswood BESS project (https://www.energy-storage.news/how-we-delivered-the-98mw-196mwh-pillswood-bess-project/) [4] - Green Economy: East Yorkshire welcomes Europe’s largest battery energy storage system (https://www.greeneconomy.co.uk/news-and-resources/news/east-yorkshire-welcomes-europe-s-largest-battery-energy-storage-system/) [5]