Portuguese utility EDP has started building its first standalone battery energy storage (BESS) in Europe through EDP Renewables (EDPR).
The 50MW/100MWh BESS, also known as the Harrington Franklin storage project, is located at the Richborough Energy Park near Sandwich, in Kent. The two-hour BESS will be connected to the Richborough substation electricity grid and is expected to be fully operational in 2025.
EDP acquired the project from British battery and solar developer Tupa Energy in 2023, a few months before acquiring a second British project, a 50 MW BESS located near Alness in the Highlands.
The company is also developing a 36 MW Spanish BESS. Until now, the warehousing activity has been focused on the US, through EDPR North America, covered on our sister site, Energy storage.news. EDPR has nearly 200 MW of contracted storage capacity in North America and more than 4 MW under construction in the Asia-Pacific region.
In its business plan for 2023-2026, EDP says it aims for a storage capacity of more than 500 MW worldwide. This is expected to be achieved mainly through co-located assets, with some contribution from standalone projects such as the Kent project.
Duarte Bello, CEO of Europe at EDP said: “Storage will play a crucial role in the future of renewable energy and we at EDP are proud to be among the players investing in this important area of the sector. The Harrington Franklin project is a clear example of both our ambition and our ability to develop storage systems that support grid flexibility and help drive Europe’s energy transition.”
EDPR’s solar and wind developments – the renewable developer has a global pipeline of wind and solar assets exceeding 15 GW – mean it has a vested interest in storage, given the technology’s potential to boost EDP’s intermittent generation capacity thereby limiting price and profile risk.
When EDPR first acquired Kent BESS, it said Britain was the most advanced market in Europe for the development of battery storage assets, due to its extensive regulatory framework.
As the pipeline of BESS developments in Britain continues to grow, developers are calling on the National Energy System Operator (NESO) to improve skip rates – the frequency at which the system operator skips batteries to use more expensive methods in the Balancing Mechanism. (BM) – claiming that skipping batteries is holding back investment and driving up consumer bills.
