Local authority in England plans its second grid-scale battery storage system

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South Somerset District Council’s recently expanded 30MW battery storage site, the largest battery project to be owned by a local council authority in the UK. Image: Kiwi Power.

South Somerset District Council (SSDC), a local government authority in the UK, is to build its second grid-scale battery storage project, announcing a 40MW facility that will be located near Fareham in Hampshire, southern England.

The Council recently finished the expansion of the 30MW Fideoak Mill battery energy storage system (BESS) site, the UK’s largest council-owned battery storage site.

SSDC’s joint venture energy company SSDC Opium Power will manage the development of the new site, which will be able to provide instantly available electrical power on demand to the grid. Similar to Fideoak Mill, distributed energy technology company Kiwi Power will be the aggregator for the finished BESS and BSR EPC is the project roll out connection contractor.

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Read more about the operation of the council’s 30MW first battery project: CASE STUDY: Co-optimising a municipally owned battery storage site in Britain, from Thomas Jennings, Head of Optimisation at energy tech company Kiwi Power.

13 October 2026
London, UK
Now in its second edition, the Summit provides a dedicated platform for UK & Ireland’s BESS community to share practical insights on performance, degradation, safety, market design and optimisation strategies. As storage deployment accelerates towards 2030 targets, attendees gain the tools needed to enhance returns and operate resilient, efficient assets.

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