Cero Generation and Enso Energy have together achieved financial closure on a 360 MW Zonne-Plus storage portfolio of projects in the UK.
The portfolio consists of three projects for solar and battery energy storage systems (BESS), one of which is the 115 MW Co-located Bramley Project, located in the southern English Graafschap Hampshire. This project is the first to be operational and is expected to start construction in the fall 2025.
The companies have not shared how much of the 360 MW corresponds to Zonne -PV, but the Bramley project is expected to have an installed solar capacity of 59 MW, which will be supplied by the Chinese solar manufacturer Longi. The company will deliver its Back Contact (BC) Hi-MO 9 modules, making this the first project that BC technology uses in the UK, according to Longi.
The BES are provided by the Chinese solar and storage provider Sungrow, while the French Nut EDF will offer the battery and route-to-market services for the solar PV. The Greek developer Metlen has been appointed as the Engineering, Procurement and Construction contractor contractor.
The financing package is structured as a green loan and consists of £ 200 million and was picked up through a consortium of money lenders including ING, Nordlb, Rabobank and Santander UK. To accommodate future projects, an accordion facility has been included in the financing of this solar-plus storage portfolio.
“The United Kingdom urgently needs flexible, clean energy infrastructure, and this portfolio-in total 360 MW of CO-located solar and storage-representative an important step forward,” said Bill Rees, director of Enso Energy.
The cooperation between CERO generation and developer Enso Energy from Independent Power Producer (IPP) aims to build 1GW of solar and storage projects in England and Wales, and has created a joint venture for this. The companies connected the first Zonne-Plus storage facility in the UK Transmission Network last year when they started the 70 MW Larks Green Solar Plant with the 49.5 MW/99MWH BESS facility.
