Renewables developer Fotowatio begins global battery adventure with 15MWh UK project

December 4, 2019
LinkedIn
Twitter
Reddit
Facebook
Email
Image: FRV.

Fotowatio Renewable Ventures, a developer of renewables with 1.9GW of projects to its name, has announced its first grid-scale battery project as it embarks on a global energy storage push.

The company said that this initial battery storage project is part of its “long-term investment plan to develop projects globally”, driven to a greater extent by the growing use of batteries to integrate renewables, in a release emailed to Energy-Storage.news this morning. Its first announced foray into the space will be a 15MWh lithium battery energy storage system (BESS) project for UK developer Harmony Energy in southern England, UK.

Connected to the local grid of UK distribution network operator (DNO) Southern Electric Power, the battery system will provide flexibility services and is expected to take only three months from when it begins in January. FRV said the project, at Holes Bay in Dorset on England’s southern coast, will be a “first of its kind” for the UK in the “cutting-edge” controls system and technologies used. Energy-Storage.news asked FRV for further comment on this aspect of the project but the company is not able to reveal more specific details at this time.

Developer Harmony Energy has 13 UK large-scale battery projects either completed or in the pipeline, our UK sister site Solar Power Portal reported earlier this month as the company announced plans for another possible 49.5MW project.

This article requires Premium SubscriptionBasic (FREE) Subscription

Try Premium for just $1

  • Full premium access for the first month at only $1
  • Converts to an annual rate after 30 days unless cancelled
  • Cancel anytime during the trial period

Premium Benefits

  • Expert industry analysis and interviews
  • Digital access to PV Tech Power journal
  • Exclusive event discounts

Or get the full Premium subscription right away

Or continue reading this article for free

Company CEO Peter Cavanagh said Harmony Energy has “over 500MW of battery storage assets construction-ready” and also has 300MW of batteries in the UK pre-qualified to participate in the country’s Capacity Market – a market opportunity that appears to have narrowed considerably for batteries since it netted those.

Meanwhile, FRV, a subsidiary of the Abdul Latif Jameel Energy company is a name mentioned fairly regularly on our international solar site, PV Tech. Recent notable projects include 134MW dc of solar, just completed in Jordan and a planned 296MW dc merchant solar farm using bifacial solar panels in Mexico. FRV is targeting a five-fold expansion of its installed capacity of clean power projects to 7.5GW worldwide by 2024.

15 September 2026
San Diego, USA
You can expect to meet and network with all the key industry players again in 2025 from major US asset owners, operators, RTOs and ISOs, optimizers, software and analytics providers, technical consultancies, O&M technology providers and more.
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.

Read Next

February 12, 2026
Potentia Renewables has successfully closed financing for the Skyview 2 battery energy storage system (BESS) in Edwardsburgh Cardinal, Ontario, Canada.
February 12, 2026
Two BESS projects in Yuma County, Arizona, one from BrightNight, and one from Leeward Renewable Energy, have reached significant milestones.
February 12, 2026
A 582MWh battery storage project and a gigawatt-hour-scale thermal energy storage system are the latest big developments in the emerging Baltic region, north-eastern Europe.
February 11, 2026
Energy storage developer NineDot Energy closes US$431 million in construction financing for New York BESS projects. Meanwhile, US energy efficiency and renewables company Ameresco completes multiple tax credit transfer and financing transactions for solar PV and BESS.
February 11, 2026
Netherlands-based iron-air long-duration energy storage (LDES) startup Ore Energy has completed a grid-connected pilot of its 100-hour iron-air LDES system at EDF Lab les Renardières in France.