Edinburgh headquarters Fidra Energy has received planning permission for his first battery storage location in Thorpe Marsh, Yorkshire.
Doncaster Council approved the 1,400 MW/3,100MWH Battery Energy Storage System (BESS) project, which will be the largest in the UK and one of the largest in Europe. The facility is developed on 55 hectares of land that was part of a former coal station site and borders an existing substation.
Sungrow supplies containers of battery systems based on Lithium-ion as part of a strategic agreement that the two companies signed in November. Sungrow will also offer its liquid-cooled Power-Titan 2.0 BESS units for Fidra Energy’s 500 MW/1GWH West Burton C project set to start construction in 2026.
Fidra Energy was launched by Energie -Investment Agency EIG in September 2024, aimed at an operational portfolio of 10 GW in the United Kingdom and Europe. West Burton C, including 1.2 GW Bicker FEN 1 & 2 project in the East Midlands and the 500 MW West Burton C development of Nottinghamshire.
The Chief Executive Officer Chris Elder of Fidra called Thorpe Marsh “one of the most exciting infrastructure projects in the world”, and added that “as the largest storage place for battery energy in the UK, the project will help to charge the ambitions of the UK Bringing to achieve a clean power system offers critical flexibility to store energy when there is an excessive renewable generation and release this when needed ”.
Walid Mouawad, director and co-head of the transfer of energy at EIG added: “This is an important step in Eig’s dedication to promote large-scale energy assets in the UK and to drive the shift of the country into a more sustainable, low-carbon future. “
Eig baptized his toe in the British Bess sector in 2021 with the purchase of EDF’s 49mw West Burton B Battery Storage Asset. The deal was part of Eig’s acquisition of 1,381 MW assets from EDF Energy Who also saw that it takes up the 1,332 MW combined cyclegast turbine (CCGT) West Burton B -power plant (CCGT).
Eig created a new electricity supplier via the acquisition, West Burton Energy (WBE). In June 2024, WBE and Eig sold the power plant and Bess to Totaleenergies, for £ 450 million.
At the time, Independent Power Producer (IPP) WBE said that, with the support of EIG, it would focus on growing its energy storage platform in the UK and Europe. It was WBE that initially the Thorpe Marsh Bess took over from Banks Renewables; With the sale of the operational assets of WBE to Totaleenergiën, Fidra essentially took over her activities.
