Wednesday 29 June 2022

Quinbrook to develop giant battery storage facility at former Welsh coal site

Quinbrook Infrastructure Partners has acquired the development rights for what will be one of the UK's largest battery storage projects to date.

The planned 230MW battery energy storage system (BESS) will be located at the site of the former Uskmouth coal-fired power station in south Wales, which was acquired from Simec Atlantis Energy Limited.

Quinbrook has partnered with Energy Optimisation Solutions Limited (EOS) in the planned redevelopment and regeneration of the Uskmouth site, which is seeking to use the existing electricity transmission infrastructure.

Construction to turn the site into a sustainable energy park is expected to take up to 18 months and the BESS is scheduled to become operational towards the end of 2024.

Rory Quinlan, Co-founder and Managing Partner of Quinbrook said: “The UK’s ‘Net Zero’ transformation is an unprecedented investment opportunity for Quinbrook with a diverse array of attractive thematics. Our ‘whole of system’ investment philosophy puts the emphasis on addressing critical infrastructure needs and enablers for a stable transition to a decarbonised power system.

“If the UK power system is to meet its 2030 renewables targets (of 95% decarbonised power generation), battery storage will need to increase significantly to address urgent stability and flexibility requirements. Almost 10% of UK grid capacity is expected to be provided by battery storage by 2030, representing an estimated £20 billion of new capital investment. Project Uskmouth is a timely example of how specialist energy infrastructure investors like Quinbrook can identify new opportunities of substantial scale and positive impact arising from the energy transition.”