UK utility SSE’s renewable energy arm has started constructing a 320MW/640MWh battery energy storage system (BESS) in North Yorkshire, northern England.
When completed, it will be one of the UK’s largest. Construction of the Monks Fryston BESS officially started yesterday (8 October), as confirmed by a ceremony that included project partners Morrison Energy Services and Sungrow, the energy storage supplier, along with SSE Renewables.
The BESS aims to energise in early 2026 after SSE made a final investment decision on the project in November 2023. It is next to a substation operated by the UK transmission system operator (TSO) National Grid.
Heather Donald, director of onshore wind, solar, and battery at SSE Renewables, said energy storage projects like Monks Fryston will be vital in reaching the UK’s net zero targets while providing flexibility to the grid.
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“To be building a battery project of this size and scale is a huge testament to how far we have come in such a short space of time, with our first 50MW battery asset at Salisbury already entering full operations earlier this year,” Donald added.
SSE Renewables has been expanding its BESS portfolio across the UK in a bid to support the country’s decarbonisation goals. Earlier this year (15 April), the organisation confirmed that its 50MW/100MWh 2-hour duration Salisbury project became its first operational BESS.
SSE Renewables is also constructing a 150MW battery project in Ferrybridge, West Yorkshire, which is due for completion in the first half of 2025.
EIG launches new BESS developer with 3GW BESS pipeline
Elsewhere in the UK BESS market, institutional energy investment firm EIG revealed on Monday (7 October) the launch of a new BESS developer, Fidra Energy, as covered by our sister site Solar Power Portal.
Fidra Energy, headquartered in Edinburgh, Scotland, aims to have 10GW of BESS projects across the UK and Europe by 2030.
Fidra Energy has a 3.15GW development pipeline in the UK. The largest of these projects is the 1.45GW Thorpe Marsh project, set to begin construction in South Yorkshire next year. When completed, it will be the “largest BESS project in Europe”, EIG claimed.
Additionally, Fidra Energy’s pipeline includes the 1.2GW Bicker Fen 1&2 project in the East Midlands and Nottinghamshire’s 500MW West Burton C development. Once all three of these projects are completed, they are expected to have enough capacity to meet over 5% of the UK’s peak demand.
