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industry & Government news

DIGEST GOVERNMENT

CHARGES UP ENERGY
STORAGE SECTOR

WITH £20M BOOST

BUMPER FIND EAST OF THE DEPARTMENT for Business,
Energy & Industrial Strategy (BEIS)
has launched a new competition
for energy storage projects that
ABERDEEN GENERATES can potentially compete with more
established technologies.
Up to three demonstration
projects are expected to be built and
EXCITEMENT IN OIL AND tested by the end of 2021 under the
Storage at Scale competition, reports
Energy Live News.
They could include electrical
GAS INDUSTRY energy storage with a minimum
power output of 30MW such as
compressed air, flow batteries and fly
wheels and power-to-x projects with a
minimum power input of 5MW where
hydrogen, ammonia or biomethane
could be generated from excess
renewable production and stored.
The competition will consider
proposals for innovative, large,
pre-commercial static electrical
energy or power-to-x energy storage
facilities. However, it is not open to
conventional types of technologies
like lithium-ion batteries, lead acid
batteries or pumped hydro.
The demonstrations should
be cost-competitive to existing
storage technologies and address
limitations such as degradation
THE FIND HAS BOOSTED HOPES THAT EXPLORATION ACTIVITY MAY RECOVER and lifetime issues, geographical
restrictions as well as safety and
INTERNATIONAL GIANTS have made in which there has been much more sustainability concerns.
a bumper gas find east of Aberdeen, drilling over the years. The final date for registrations
which they say shows there is still lots It will boost hopes that exploration is 17 April and proposals must be
to go for in the mature North Sea. activity may recover after falling to submitted by 26 April 2019.
Total made the find, estimated record lows in the wake of the crude
to contain 250 million barrels price plunge which took a heavy toll on
recoverable, with a well drilled with the UK North Sea.
China’s CNOOC and Edison of Italy, “There is a lot of hype around frontier
reports the Herald Scotland. areas like West of Shetland, where Total
Experts believe that the find could discovered the Glendronach field last
be the biggest made on the United year,” noted Kevin Swann at oil and gas
Kingdom Continental Shelf for more consultancy Wood Mackenzie. “But
than a decade. Glengorm is in in the Central North Sea
The success comes after Total made and this find shows there is still life in
a major gas discovery West of Shetland some of the more mature UK waters.”
with the Glendronach well in September. Noting that Glengorm looked to be
This stoked excitement about the the largest gas discovery in the UK
potential of the relatively under- since Culzean in 2008, Mr Swann said
explored waters off Shetland, which is the strike represented a good start to
still considered to be a frontier area. what could prove to be a pivotal year
The Glengorm find has provided a for UK exploration. Oil and gas firms
reminder that there are still big finds plan to drill several potentially high THE GOVERNMENT WANTS TO EXPLORE
OTHER STORAGE OPTIONS
to be made in areas of the North Sea impact wells this year.

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