Piclo Contracts – Winning Bid
Distribution Network Operators (DNOs) are transitioning to Distribution Services Operators (DSOs) over the next 3 years. This means that they will be buying some of the grid balancing services currently procured by National Grid, and probably many more. As such, they are starting to let contracts on the PicloFlex website for local services. They give guide prices for these services to be cheaper than what they’d have to pay to reinforce the local grid sufficiently to avoid the need for such services. And some of those guide prices are astonishingly high, up to £1,000/MWh versus an average wholesale electricity price of £45-50/MWh. There are payments for utilisation, though no commitment to a quantity of it, and often also payments for availability; though if the latter is paid, the former is lower.
Such revenues are within the “up-side potential” category of our revenue streams evaluation and therefore make our plants more profitable than the already-profitable levels we discuss routinely.
33MW of Piclo contracts (growing ~10% p.a.) were being offered in the area of our first 40MW plant, for 3 hours per day, 9 months per annum. Storelectric bid for and won them for delivery in Summer 2022. We are discussing longer-term contracts, and delivering other services too. Now we need the cash to build the plant.
European Union
Storelectric’s Project of Common Interest (two Cheshire plants, 40MW and 500MW) have been re-approved onto the EU’s (or, strictly, ENTSO-E’s) Ten Year Network Development Plan (TYNDP) for the next two years. This means that we can apply again for CEF funding this year during the transitional period.
What then? ENTSO-E is many more countries than the EU, so we will probably remain in that and on the TYNDP. But CEF funding is EU plus those countries that pay into that pot, so funding for a UK project will be doubtful from next year. However, funding for subsequent projects in the EU will remain open to us.
And we avoided the B-word!
Two More Awards
Corp Magazine has just given Storelectric two more awards: Best in Air Energy Storage and Best for Turn-key Energy Storage and Microgrids. This is part of the ongoing recognition of the contribution that our technologies can make to the decarbonisation of the grid and the country.
Thought Leadership Blog
Future Role of hydrogen
This month Mark offers a few thoughts on the proper role of hydrogen technologies in the zero-carbon energy mix, and when they will achieve such roles.
