Bulgaria, Westinghouse agree to implement energy storage project

State-owned Bulgarian Energy Holding (BEH) has signed a memorandum of understanding with Stone&Webster, a unit of US nuclear power technology provider Westinghouse Electric, to implement a long-duration energy storage (LDES) project, Bulgaria's energy ministry said.

The companies will collaborate on the installation of two grid-scale pumped thermal energy storage (PTES) units which can provide 2 GWh of sustainable energy storage, the energy ministry said in a press release on Thursday.

The new energy storage facility will improve power grid resilience, while supporting renewable electricity generation, in addition to potentially offsetting up to 700,000 metric tonnes of carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions per year, the ministry added.

Westinghouse, which has developed the PTES technology, said in a statement it has partnered with US power plant equipment supplier Echogen Power Systems to meet the demand for LDES.

The project is seen as a means to enhance Bulgaria's energy security and ensure economic support for clean energy generation, whilst aiding Bulgaria to play a role in emission reduction under European Green Deal targets.

"The reliability and affordability of energy systems based on various energy sources, such as wind and solar, may depend on the ability to store large amounts of generated low-cost energy for long periods of time. Large-scale deployment of LDES with the benefits this technology brings can significantly reduce the overall cost of future systems generating clean energy from renewables," Westinghouse quoted BEH chief executive Ivan Andreev as saying.

The PTES solution can deliver at least 10 hours of reliable energy storage to manage fluctuations in power supply and demand, according to the statement.

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