Subsidy-free ‘landmark’ UK solar-plus-storage site Clayhill changes hands

LinkedIn
Twitter
Reddit
Facebook
Email
Clayhill solar farm in Bedfordshire, England. Image: Anesco.

Anesco, the developer of a subsidy-free solar farm in the UK which has onsite battery energy storage, has sold the plant on to hybrid solar solutions company GRIDSERVE.

Whilst an Anesco spokesperson could not confirm the exact figure of the transaction, when contacted by our sister site Solar Power Portal the spokesperson did state that it was a “multi-million-pound” deal between the two.

Clayhill, which consists of 10MW of solar PV co-located with a 6MW energy storage facility, was built in the east England county of Bedfordshire in 2017, allowing Anesco to lay claim to the development of the UK’s first subsidy-free solar farm.

Some of the electricity generated by Clayhill is now to go towards powering GRIDSERVE’s maiden Electric Forecourt in Braintree, Essex, a site consisting of 24 ultra-fast 350kW electric vehicle chargers alongside a variety of facilities such as a coffee shop and airport-style lounge.

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

Construction on the site began in March, with plans for 100 of such forecourts to be built around the country. The company recently recieved multi-million funding from Hitachi to further its Electric Forecourts as well as its solar farm development.

To read the full version of this story, visit Solar Power Portal.

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.
3 November 2026
Málaga, Spain
Understanding technology and supplier selection for Europe’s utility-scale PV market in 2027. PV ModuleTech Europe 2026 is a two-day conference that tackles these challenges directly, with an agenda that addresses all aspects of PV module, inverter and battery supplier selection; product availability, technology offerings, supply chain traceability, quality assurance, factory auditing, system reliability, and supplier bankability.

Read Next

September 11, 2026
Greek renewables developer Metlen Energy & Metals has signed an agreement with utility Copec for the sale of the Tamarico II solar-plus-storage project in Chile’s Atacama region.
September 11, 2026
Our collection of user-posted analysis, views, and unofficial news, gathered from our networks on LinkedIn, returns for its third outing.
Premium
September 10, 2026
We hear from Angus Gordon Lennox, chair of the Gore Street Energy Storage Fund (GSF), which faces a shareholder vote next week on its future. 
September 9, 2026
This edition of news in brief brings you BESS news from the UK market featuring Field, Eelpower and EDF, as reported by our colleagues at Solar Power Portal.
September 7, 2026
Tech giant Google, Tesla, utility Pacific Gas and Electric (PG&E), and distributed energy resource (DER)-focused company Sunrun are launching a new virtual power plant (VPP) in California, US.