Dublin Energy Storage Battery

Ireland's ESB has opened a battery energy storage system at its Poolberg site in Dublin. Operational since November, the battery plant is capable of providing 75 MW of energy for two hours to Ireland's electricity system. It features high-capacity batteries that store excess renewable energy for discharge when required.

The biggest operator is ESB, which owns the current largest operating battery in Ireland – the 150 MW Aghada 2 project. ESB also owns the 19 MW Aghada 1 battery, the 73 MW Poolbeg battery, and the Kylemore and South Wall BESS which are both 30 MW. Many of ESB's BESS are on existing sites where it owned thermal or flex gen assets, said Smith.

“A lot of energy storage has crept under the radar so far in Ireland,” he told ESS News. Developers secure planning quite easily but the route to market is a challenge. Energy storage has the opposite problem to the wind industry where planning is an obstacle but the route to market is there.

In a bid to support Irish grid stability, Electricity Supply Board (ESB) has opened a major battery plant at its Poolbeg site in Dublin, which will add 75MW/150MWh of fast-acting energy storage.

ESB has opened a 75 MW/150 MWh battery plant, touted as the largest of its kind in commercial operation in Ireland. Eamon Ryan, the country's Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications, has said that the site will be a core part of Ireland's renewable energy transition.

This specific battery energy storage system is the largest site of its kind in commercial operation in Ireland and is part of ESB's pipeline of projects, worth up to €300m in investments, that aim to be delivered at sites in Dublin and Cork. This project has a capability of providing 75MW of energy for two hours to Ireland's electricity system.