Two energy storage firms win £14m for new technologies

StorTera will get £5m towards a prototype demonstrator of its new battery technology

Two Scottish firms have been awarded a total of more than £14m by the UK government to help them develop new energy storage technologies.

East Lothian-based Sunamp will receive £9.25m to help trial its advanced thermal storage system in 100 UK homes.

And StorTera in Edinburgh will get £5m towards a prototype demonstrator of its single liquid flow battery technology.

The money is being provided through the UK's Longer Duration Energy Storage competition.

The government said the technologies aimed to increase the resilience of the UK's electricity grid, while maximising value for money.

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Sunamp wants to extend its existing heat battery to provide increased storage duration and capacity, and pair it with household energy systems to tackle periods of low renewables generation on the grid.

StorTera, meanwhile, aims to develop a long-lasting megawatt scale battery that can operate for up to eight hours.

It plans to utilise recycled and recyclable materials, such as a by-product of the wood industry, and reuse sulphur from oil and gas.

'Grid flexibility'

StorTera said the technology would offer flexibility to the grid by storing electricity which could then be released when weather-dependent technologies such as wind turbines and solar panels had periods of decreased energy generation.

Chief executive Dr Gavin Park said that long duration energy storage was "key to a more sustainable future and better utilisation of renewable energy".

Its battery will be installed at the Midlothian Innovation Centre in 2024.

UK Minister for Climate Graham Stuart said: "Accelerating renewables is key to boosting our energy resilience.

"Energy storage helps us get the full benefit of these renewables, improving efficiency and helping drive down costs in the long term.

"This £14m UK government backing will support Scottish innovation to further develop this technology, helping create new jobs and encouraging private investment, while also safeguarding the UK's energy security."

The latest funding announcement follows the first phase of the Longer Duration Energy Storage contest, which saw £2.7m awarded to 19 UK projects.

This second phase provides further funding to the most promising projects from phase one, enabling them to build prototypes and demonstrators to bring their projects to life.