Bluefield Solar buys 80MW BESS for £4.5 million

LinkedIn
Twitter
Reddit
Facebook
Email

London-listed solar and storage investor Bluefield Solar Income Fund has acquired two 40MW battery energy storage system (BESS) projects for £4.5 million (US$5.7 million).

Bluefield Solar has bought the development rights, grid connection and leasehold for the two standalone projects from Green Hedge Energy UK, an energy storage developer.

This article requires Premium SubscriptionBasic (FREE) Subscription

Enjoy 12 months of exclusive analysis

  • Regular insight and analysis of the industry’s biggest developments
  • In-depth interviews with the industry’s leading figures
  • Annual digital subscription to the PV Tech Power journal
  • Discounts on Solar Media’s portfolio of events, in-person and virtual

Or continue reading this article for free

Construction on the sites, which are in Derbyshire and Worcestershire, is expected to start this year. Both are fully consented and benefit from near-term grid connections, Bluefield said in today’s (May 23) announcement.

John Rennocks, chairman of Bluefield Solar, commented: “Energy storage has a key role in supporting the decarbonisation of the electricity system in Great Britain. Once operational, it is intended the assets will be able to participate in a variety of valuable services to support the grid and to enable the Company to further diversify its revenue streams.”

Bluefield Solar Income Fund launched in 2013 but only began to diversify into energy storage last year. It started with the acquisition of colocated site in Lincolnshire in August followed by a 20MW standalone project in Liverpool in February this year, as covered by Energy-Storage.news‘ sister site Solar Power Portal.

All three storage deals by Bluefield have been project rights acquisitions with a 2022 construction date. February’s acquisition from Shaw-Energi equated to a price/MW of £75,000 (US$95,000) while today’s deal comes in slightly lower at £56,250 (US$70,000).

Speaking at Solar Media’s Energy Storage Summit 2022 in London in February, Bluefield Partners’ investment director Jan Libicek said there was an increasing focus in the market towards standalone storage, although colocation would always have the benefit of saving on capex (Bluefield Partners is the investment advisor to the Bluefield Solar Income Fund).

Figures from Solar Media’s UK Battery Storage Projects Database show that the proportion of the UK energy storage market that is colocated is going to increase over time based on the development pipeline. Less than 10% of operational BESS is paired with wind or solar compared to a fifth of the 38GW pipeline.

Read Next

April 25, 2025
Adani Green Energy subsidiary has signed a power purchase agreement with Uttar Pradesh Power Corporation Limited for a pumped hydro facility.
April 24, 2025
A trio of major announcements in the grid-scale BESS market in Chile, with Canadian Solar winning a delivery contract from Colbun, Metlen Energy & Metals selling a solar-plus-storage portfolio to Glenfarne, and Atlas Renewable Energy securing financing for a project.
Premium
April 23, 2025
A panel of owner-operators, optimisers and developers discussed the evolving dynamics of the ERCOT, Texas market at last month’s Energy Storage Summit USA 2025 in Dallas.
April 23, 2025
The Ministry of Energy of Bulgaria has selected 82 winning energy storage projects for a share of BGN 1.15 billion (€588 million) in financial support.
April 23, 2025
Tilt Renewables has submitted plans for two 300MW 8-hour duration BESS co-located with a wind plant to Australia’s EPBC Act.

Most Popular

Email Newsletter