August 12, 2021: A lead/lithium battery hybrid is to be installed at the British Royal Mint as part of a multi-technology energy centre in Wales after a tender for the project was won by renewable energy company Infinite on August 10.

The energy centre will comprise a 2MW solar farm, wind turbine, hydrogen-ready combined heat and power unit, and the hybrid battery.

Controlling the containerized energy storage system will be the ADEPT battery management system developed by battery firm GS Yuasa, the University of Sheffield, and Infinite, a renewable energy developer set up in 2010 to build wind power schemes and now working in solar energy as well.

Infinite says the concept of an energy centre with all components on one site, supplying industrial estates with local renewable energy, is a UK first.

“As a large manufacturing site, the Royal Mint is the perfect candidate site for an integrated energy centre,” said Infinite director Andrew Crossman.

“The generation from low carbon and renewable technologies, distributed via a smart microgrid, will provide a huge boost to the Royal Mint’s carbon reduction strategy.”

The energy centre will generate around 18,000MWh a year, which means that with annual demand around 25GWh, it will provide around 72% of the Mint’s electricity.

“The battery size will be 800kW but the final design specification, including the lithium/lead split, will be subject to future analysis of the Mint’s current demand profile,” says Infinite.

This centre is one of up to seven being planned by Infinite as part of a ‘Generation Storage Consumption Supply’ project grant funded by the European Regional Development Fund.

In July, solar panels were installed in a similar system at GS Yuasa’s battery factory in Wales.