Energy / Battery park construction set to get underway in ‘next few weeks’
CONSTRUCTION of a battery energy storage system in Lerwick is set to get underway in the coming weeks.
A total of 240 battery units will be delivered to the Gremista site, located behind the Ocean Kinetics building, as part of the project.
Contractor Zenobē is carrying out the work on behalf of SSEN, with the development set to “keep the lights on” in Shetland if there is an outage on the power network.
It would be used to supply Shetland while the diesel-fired Lerwick Power Station comes out of standby mode if there is an outage on the subsea HVDC cable.
It could take up to an hour for the power station to get up and running, with the facility expected to go into standby mode next year.
An SSEN spokesperson for the project said Zenobē had notified Shetland Islands Council that construction would be starting shortly.
“This work is due to get underway on site in the next few weeks, and more details on the timeline of this next phase of the project will be given at that time,” SSEN said.
The battery development – which has consent for a capacity of up to 100MW – is proposed for land opposite Lerwick Power Station where SSE has been constructing new grid supply point buildings.
Lerwick Community Council objected previously on fire risk grounds, while campaign groups Sustainable Shetland and Save Shetland also wrote letters of objections.
However, the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service offered no objections or comment.
Zenobē has previously said that civic construction works could continue until October, with battery units then transported to the site from Lerwick Harbour.
Two battery units can be delivered by one HGV, with Zenobē estimating there could be a total of 120 deliveries.
A spokesperson for SSEN Distribution said previously the stand-by project should be energised in the first half of 2026.
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