Asset owner and operator Varco Energy, together with Fluence Energy, has achieved commercial operations for the first phase of the 142.5 MW/348.5 MWh Sizing John Energy Storage Project.
Located within the Mersey Ring to the east of Liverpool, the The first phase of the project consists of a 57 MW/137.5 MWh battery energy storage system (BESS), with a duration of 2.4 hours. Construction of Phase 2 is underway, with Fluence selected to expand the project by a further 85.5 MW/201 MWh BESS. Commercial operations for the second phase are expected to begin in the fourth quarter of 2026.
According to Varco Energy, the project has been designed in a two-phase development to maximize both immediate and long-term impact. The first phase included Fluence’s Gridstack solution and will provide critical storage capacity to balance local supply and demand and support the integration of renewable energy sources.
Phase two of the project includes Fluence’s next-generation Gridstack Pro 5000, with advanced networking capabilities, allowing it to provide regulatory voltage and frequency control to the UK electricity grid. The use and importance of networking technology has been highlighted this year following the power outage in Iberia, which left Spain and Portugal without electricity for almost an entire day in April. Months after the incident, several European trade organizations met called to facilitate the integration of BESS and grid-forming inverters to improve the resilience of the Spanish electricity grid, as covered by our sister site PV technology.
“The addition of network-building capabilities will set a new standard for regional network support, especially in the wake of the recent power outages in the Iberian Peninsula. We are proud to deliver solutions that not only address current constraints, but also lay the foundation for a more flexible, renewable energy-powered future,” said Richard Whitmore, director at Varco Energy.
Brian Perusse, Managing Director UK & Ireland at Fluence, added: “Sizing John is an important step in bringing extended-duration storage and additional networking capabilities to the UK, technologies that play a crucial role in improving system resilience, unlocking greater renewable energy integration and reducing costs for consumers.”
Over the next 18 months, the asset owner aims to power a further 250 MW of assets in Britain, with a further 275 MW in the pipeline. Among the projects the company has in its pipeline are three long-term energy storage (LDES) projects with a combined capacity of almost 160MW/377MWh and for which it works together with technology supplier Arenko for the asset management of the portfolio.
