Masdar Arlington Energy, a subsidiary of Abu Dhabi Future Energy Company PJSC – Masdar, has announced that it has broken ground at the sites of two new battery energy storage system (BESS) projects in the UK.
This comes a year after Masdar announced the company’s commitment to invest £1 billion in BESS in the UK.
Together, the two sites, the Royle Barn Road plant in Rochdale and the Welkin Road plant in Stockport, will have a capacity of 55MW.
They will provide enough energy to power 25,700 homes.
Masdar Arlington Energy is pursuing a 3GWh pipeline of BESS projects in the UK.
Commenting on the announcement, Masdar Chief Executive Officer, Mohamed Jameel Al Ramahi, said: “To achieve the global energy transition agreed in the UAE Consensus, we need to utilize world-changing renewable energy sources and technology, including wind, solar and battery energy storage. The two BESS plants we are breaking ground on today underline the critical role energy storage will play in helping energy systems and infrastructure in the UK and across the globe to move away from carbon-intensive sources of power.”
BESS provides a solution to the intermittency issues related to renewable energy sources, storing excess electricity generated by solar plants and wind farms to be distributed during periods when they cannot provide power.
The new BESS projects are also being developed on previously industrialised sites, in line with Masdar Arlington Energy’s strategy to house projects on land in need of redevelopment and regeneration.
Masdar Director, Global Offshore Wind & UK, Husain Al Meer, said: “Grid-level energy storage is critical to the long-term adoption of renewable energy in the grid. Our £1 billion investment in BESS in the UK highlights Masdar’s commitment to advancing storage solutions to help commercialize clean technologies. Today’s announcement adds to our growing portfolio of BESS projects around the globe with more to come in the future.”
Masdar acquired UK-based Arlington Energy in October 2022, a year after the company established its global headquarters for offshore wind in the UK, recruiting dedicated teams to oversee its BESS and global offshore wind businesses.