The Harmony Energy Income Trust (HEIT) site, Bumpers, starred on BBC TV as one of the reasons to be optimistic about the climate. Bumpers, completed in just 10 months, can power 300,000 homes for up to two hours and is one of the biggest BESS sites in Europe. 
With experts citing batteries as the key link in the chain to make net zero achievable for electricity production, CEO of Harmony Energy Peter Kavanagh said: “If you didn’t have storage, you could only have a certain amount of renewable energy.
“When you add storage into the mix, it makes it a lot easier to get to a majority share of renewable energy. So, we can go much further to reach net zero and it makes a 100% renewables grid technically possible.”
BBC journalist, Matt McGrath, reporting on COP28, highlighted how we are currently experiencing the warmest twelve months in 125,000 years, and that renewable energy sources, are one of the main reasons to remain optimistic about the future of our planet.
You can read the full article here:
COP28: Five reasons for optimism on climate
BBC Look North: Bumpers wasn’t the only HEIT site to appear across the BBC in the last week, the multi-award winning Pillswood BESS took focus on BBC Look North. 
Look North covered the need for an increase in BESS sites as the country switches over to renewables. BBC Business Correspondent Spencer Stokes visited Pillswood to speak to Peter about why BESS are vital to storing energy and releasing it back into the Grid at times of high demand.
Spencer said: “As we make the switch to renewables, it’s likely we’ll need more energy storage. And that means big, high-powered batteries, close to powerlines and substations. This BESS [Pillswood] is run by Yorkshire-based, Harmony, who operate at 11 sites across the UK. They’re predicting a big rise in the numbers of batteries.”
Peter said: “We need much more. We need more than 10 times the amount we have today in the next 10 years. If we don’t have that, we won’t be able to accelerate the growth in renewable energy and would then need to switch off wind farms – which we are currently doing – because we don’t have sufficient energy storage on the network to take that surplus power, which is crazy and creates more expense in the system.
“The more energy storage we can build out, the more it can help reduce consumer pricing.”
Peter went on to discuss one of Harmony Energy’s core values, and said: “We’re very passionate about safety. Safety is one of our core values at Harmony and we would encourage everyone to come to look at our sites to learn about our focus on safety.”
Looking Ahead: Peter said: “It’s great to see the BBC adding focus to the importance of renewable energy, and how energy storage is key to delivering more renewable energy and net zero.
“Our journey to powering a sustainable future is going from strength to strength, and we want to continue to be at the forefront of making the world a better place for everyone.”
