China’s Ganfeng Lithium has signed an agreement with EDF to optimize and operate its 160MWh Kintore battery energy storage system (BESS), marking the company’s first large-scale energy storage venture in Britain.
The project will deliver 50MW/160MWh of battery storage and aims to begin commercial operations by 2026. EDF will use its Powershift platform to provide real-time optimization services for the battery storage system.
EDF’s Powershift is the company’s battery energy storage optimization platform that manages revenue generation for battery assets across multiple UK electricity markets. The platform serves as EDF’s primary solution for managing the flexibility of energy storage systems.
Powershift uses technology and market data to optimize battery performance through modeling, real-time data analysis, artificial intelligence and algorithms. The platform allows battery assets to participate in ancillary services, energy wholesale, balancing mechanism and grid stability services.
Under the partnership agreement, EDF will provide route-to-market services and asset optimization for the Kintore facility. The Powershift platform allows the battery system to participate in multiple revenue streams.
EDF also has a strong presence in the UK solar PV market progressed plans for an 800MW solar Nationally Significant Infrastructure Project (NSIP) through the planning process.
EDF’s renewable energy activities in the UK also include corporate power purchase agreements, under which the company has entered into a contract supply London’s tube network with power via a solar power plant developed in collaboration with Transport for London.
Ganfeng Lithium operates as a vertically integrated lithium ecosystem company, covering upstream resource development, midstream compound and battery production, and downstream recycling and energy storage integration.
The company’s energy storage products serve markets in China, Europe, North America and the Asia Pacific region.
The Kintore project represents Ganfeng’s strategic entry into the UK energy storage market, leveraging EDF’s established optimization capabilities and market access.
Zhang Diyuan, head of Ganfeng’s overseas energy storage business, said the partnership with EDF will enable the company to introduce its energy storage technology to the UK market.
Zhang noted that combining Ganfeng’s manufacturing capabilities with EDF’s operational expertise aims to improve reliability and efficiency within the UK’s renewable energy infrastructure.
EDF Wholesale Market Services received the trophy Trading & Optimization Team of the Year at last week’s Energy Storage Awards 2025hosted by our publisher Solar Media in London, UK. It was the second year in a row that the company won the award.
