• Bookstore

The battery, being researched and tested by E.ON's Technology Centre in Nottingham, will store energy generated from wind farms and distributed microgeneration such as solar panels. The energy would be stored when it is not needed by customers - meaning it could be used when demand is high - something that has not been tested before on a large-scale.

A large-scale prototype is currently being developed that will be able to store 1MW of electricity for four hours - which is the equivalent to 10 million AA batteries - and is the same size as four articulated lorry containers.

Bob Taylor, Managing Director of Energy Wholesale and Technology, said:
"Green power is only generated from wind farms when the wind blows and that might not be when the power's needed by customers. By researching and developing this battery we can store the power generated by wind farms any time and then use it when our customers need it the most.

"The storage system will also help the development of localised generation - for example, a school with solar panels can store the power generated at weekends and use it when the kids are back in school."

The work is part of a collaborative venture sponsored by the Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform. Once E.ON completes its tests and evaluation of the smaller test batteries, the larger prototype will be built.

Project partners and colleagues from the company's distribution business, Central Networks, will then install the prototype on the local electricity network. It is expected the prototype will be in place and operational by autumn 2009.

"It's still very early days but we believe energy storage is a key which will help us unlock a lower carbon tomorrow and radically change the way we think about energy," said Bob Taylor.

E.ON has also announced a £40 million research fund which will support the further development of energy storage and other promising energy technologies. The new international fund will provide an important source of cash for researchers around the world for the next ten years. E.ON UK is also investing £50 million in new technologies and approaches over the next ten years, through the Energy Technologies Institute.