Yorkshire Transformer Manufacturer at The Heart of Europe’s Largest Battery Energy Storage System

Transformers manufactured by a Leeds firm are playing a critical role in Europe’s largest battery energy storage system (BESS) by megawatt hours, which has just come online in the East Riding of Yorkshire.

Harmony Energy’s 98MW/196MWh Pillswood facility, near Cottingham, utilises 78 Tesla Megapacks connected to the grid using power and distribution transformers. These transformers ensure the voltage of the imported and exported energy matches the voltage level of the grid connection.

Wilson Power Solutions supplied the site with Forty Tier 2 compliant 2.8MVA 33kV/480V Wilson T2 Ecotrans Distribution Transformers®. And to blend in with the white Tesla Megapacks, Wilson Power Solutions coated the transformers in the trademark Tesla colour.

Located in Cottingham, East Riding of Yorkshire, Pillswood has a strategic significance in supporting the utilisation of non-dispatchable renewable energy projects. The site is adjacent to National Grid’s Creyke Beck substation, the same connection point proposed for phases “A” and “B” of the world’s largest offshore wind farm, Dogger Bank, which is set to go live on the first phase in Summer 2023.

The National Grid Energy System Operator has asked wind farms to switch off in the past in the occurrence of consumption/generation imbalance occasions. Battery Energy Storage Systems like Pillswood prove necessary to allow the NG to maximise the utilisation of the energy generated by wind farms.

Tesla managed the construction of Pillswood which is also operated by Tesla Autobidder, a real-time trading and control platform providing asset management and portfolio optimisation based on value. This allows Pillswood to provide balancing services to the GB electricity grid while maximising revenues.

Funded by Harmony Energy Income Trust and delivered by Harmony Energy Limited, the two-hour duration BESS site has the capacity to store up to 196 MWh (megawatt hours) of electricity in a single cycle. This is enough to power around 300,000 UK homes for two hours.

Erika Wilson, the Managing Director of Wilson Power Solutions said: “We are delighted to work on this important green energy project with Tesla and Harmony energy, a fellow Yorkshire company.

“There is an increasing demand for transformers to support the growth of renewable and BESS sites in the UK. We customise the transformer’s design to cater to the technical requirements of each project. BESS sites such as Pillswood benefited from this, aspiring to find the right balance between improving reliability and addressing material efficiency.”

Erika added, “BESS and the support they provide to renewables build the confidence needed to accelerate phasing out from fossil fuels.”

Harmony Energy CEO, Peter Kavanagh, said: “Battery energy storage systems are essential to unlocking the full potential of renewable energy in the UK, and we hope this particular one highlights Yorkshire as a leader in green energy solutions.

“I would like to thank Wilson Power Solutions, in Leeds, for their efforts, which for the first time saw them finishing the transformers in white to match the Tesla Megapacks.”