Blackhillock: Europe’s largest battery storage system for grid stabilization

The Blackhillock Battery Project is a groundbreaking initiative aimed at addressing the critical challenges of grid stability and renewable energy integration in Scotland. Blackhillock is the first of several projects to be delivered under Great Britain’s National Energy System Operator’s (NESO) Stability Pathfinder program, designed to address stability challenges in the electricity system. Blackhillock is owned and operated by Zenobé, and was built in partnership with Wärtsilä, H&MV, and SMA.

Rising to the Challenge: Solving Renewable Energy Integration Issues

With Scotland’s ambitious net-zero targets and the rapid growth of renewable energy, the grid faces increasing challenges. The increasing retirement of traditional fossil-fuel power plants has led to a lack of inertia and short-circuit capacity, both essential for grid stability.

Without costly and time-consuming infrastructure upgrades, the challenge was clear: how to maintain a stable, resilient grid while increasing renewable energy integration?

Grid-Forming Technology for a Stable Grid

To solve this challenge, SMA supplied 62 medium-voltage power stations, equipped with cutting-edge grid-forming inverters. These inverters provide:

• 370 MWs of inertia to enhance grid resilience

• 116 MVA of short circuit level contribution

What makes Blackhillock so unique and innovative is the use of grid-forming inverters which stabilize voltage dips and phase jumps, enabling greater integration of renewable energy, including offshore wind, into the national grid.

Engineering Services for Maximum Grid Compatibility

Beyond supplying hardware, the SMA team provided comprehensive support throughout the project, including:

• Grid Forming Advisory Service
  The advisory support from the SMA team ensured that the necessary technical requirements (including Grid Code 0137) were met and that Blackhillock was fully aligned with all grid protocols

• Control System Integration
  Ensured smooth synchronization between SMA devices and the power plant’s control system.

• Comprehensive Performance Tests
  Conducted in-depth testing to evaluate the performance of the inverters under project-specific parameters.

• Grid Studies
  Grid studies for the analysis and optimization of grid-forming properties to ensure smooth integration into the UK transmission grid.

• Blackstart Sequence
  An analysis was conducted to optimize the Blackstart sequence, ensuring the inverters operate correctly during grid outages and enabling a smooth system reconnection.

SMA Pioneers Groundbreaking Compliance with Great Britain’s New Grid Code

SMA successfully completed the first of its kind compliance process for the new Great Britain grid connection requirements (Grid Code 0137), including grid forming inverter requirements. This solution, integrating hardware, software, and engineering services has successfully demonstrated that it fulfils all the specifications of the British grid operator National Energy System Operator (NESO).

This is Next Level Energy

Blackhillock is the largest transmission-connected battery storage system in Europe, with a total capacity of 300 MW / 600 MWh. Phase 1 of the project, with a capacity of 200 MW, has already been commissioned, and Phase 2, with an additional 100 MW, is slated for completion by 2026.