Norwegian energy giant Equinor and Abu Dhabi-headquartered project partner Masdar have completed installation of an innovative battery system to store electricity generated by Hywind Scotland, the world’s first commercial-scale floating wind array, located in the UK North Sea.

The so-called Batwind energy storage facility, a 1.2MW system deployed at a substation in Peterhead, Scotland, will be tested as a means of optimising the transmission of electricity from offshore plants onto onshore grids, to improve the operational and cost efficiency of future wind farms and so “open up new commercial opportunities in an expanding market”.