Norwegian energy company Equinor has purchased a 45% stake in UK-based battery developer Noriker, with plans to fully acquire the company at a later date.
Norikor battery storage. Credit: Equinor
Battery storage technology employed by Noriker. Credit: Equinor
Equinor is reportedly hoping to utilise battery technology in a bid to diversify and "stabilise" energy markets, complementing its existing renewable energy portfolio in the UK by applying new batteries to its offshore wind farms and gaining access to current and future Noriker projects.
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Also on the cards are the ability to store energy while prices are low and sell it back to grids when prices are higher, which it claims can help increase return-on-investment for renewable projects.
"Battery storage is going to be a key part of the energy transition as the world increases its share of intermittent renewable power", Olav Kolbeinstveit, senior vice president for power and markets within Renewables at Equinor.
Large-scale batteries can be charged when there is good access to low-cost electricity and discharged when supply is limited "which will enable businesses to establish profitable services around the need to balance markets", he adds, saying the "UK’s high degree of renewables make the country an interesting investment case for a battery storage business".
The company, like many companies traditionally rooted in fossil fuels, has pledged to net-zero emissions by 2050 and hopes energy storage can help meet those goals.
Other renewable projects the company has looked into include low-carbon hydrogen, significant investment into offshore wind, including the Dogger Bank farm off the coast of the UK, as well as looking into revitalising the "Nothern Lights" project in Oslo alongside Microsoft.
Noriker is currently headquartered in Gloucester and has implemented around 250 MW of battery storage in the UK since it was established in 2015.
Its first Scottish site, the 30 MW Byers Brae project, was commissioned in March 2021.
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Another 500 MW of energy projects are currently in the pipeline. The company plans to use the investment from Equinor to enhance its project development platform, including engineering development, control systems innovation and algorithmic optimisation.
As part of its eventual acquisition plans, Equinor will also purchase the shares of another major shareholder, Gresham House, which currently owns 15% of Noriker.
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