After a quiet period, M&A in the UK’s large-scale BESS market has picked up with transactions from CIP, Fidra Energy, Elements Green, Gresham House and Eelpower in the past fortnight.
The pick-up in activity is partially due to more certainty around grid connections, but also down to investors shaping their portfolios, said Sumit Joshi, director at consultancy Baringa.
CIP sells minority stakes in 1GWh Scotland BESS to state-owned funds
Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners (CIP) has agreed to divest a minority stake in its 500MW/1,000MWh Devilla BESS in Scotland to the Scottish National Investment Bank and the Nuclear Liabilities Fund.
On behalf of its CI IV fund, CIP has sold minority stakes in the 2-hour battery energy storage system (BESS) project to the two state-owned organisations. The Denmark-headquartered investor will retain a majority stake in the project, which is scheduled for commissioning in 2028.
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The Scottish National Investment Bank is the nation’s development bank with a mandate for net zero investments. The Nuclear Liabilities Fund meanwhile was set up to meet the costs of decommissioning eight nuclear power stations (formerly British Energy, now EDF-owned). It invests in assets to generate returns to help fund those costs.
Devilla is being commercialised via a 10-year optimisation agreement with utility SSE and a 15-year capacity market (CM) contract.
See the full version of this article on Solar Power Portal.
Fidra Energy buys 1GW BESS from Innova
Battery energy storage system (BESS) developer Fidra Energy has acquired a gigawatt-scale BESS from Innova.
At 1,025MW, the Enderby BESS is one of the largest such projects in the UK, close behind another of Fidra’s projects, the 1.4GW/3.1GWh Thorpe Marsh BESS.
The Edinburgh-headquartered company is taking on development of the Enderby site, located in Leicestershire, for which Innova secured planning consent in May 2025 (at which point its capacity was slightly lower, 908MW).
The project is eligible to bid into the UK’s long-duration energy storage (LDES) cap and floor scheme, with results due in summer this year.
The acquisition, the value of which has not been disclosed by the companies, brings Fidra’s total UK BESS pipeline to over 4GW. In September, the company secured up to £445 million of new equity investment from EIG and the National Wealth Fund (the NWF) and began construction of Thorpe Marsh, in South Yorkshire.
See the full version of this article on Solar Power Portal.
Elements Green acquires 300MW/600MWh Scottish BESS project from Geocore
London-headquartered renewables developer Elements Green has acquired the 300MW/600MWh Newarthill battery energy storage system (BESS) project in Scotland from developer Geocore.
The transmission-connected project, located near Motherwell, received planning consent in February 2025 and is designed with a two-hour duration, with the potential to expand to four hours. The project is expected to be completed by October 2029.
A grid connection has been secured through an adjacent 275kV substation, with a grid offer obtained from the UK’s National Energy System Operator (NESO) under the ongoing grid reform process.
Elements Green said the acquisition strengthens its position in strategically important areas of the UK transmission network as renewable penetration increases and system operators seek additional flexibility capacity.
The Newarthill project sits near the B6 and B4 network boundaries in Scotland, an area characterised by high levels of renewable generation alongside transmission constraints. Large-scale BESS projects in these locations are increasingly viewed as critical to managing congestion, reducing renewable curtailment and supporting system stability.
See the full version of this article on Solar Power Portal.
Gresham House to acquire 480MW BESS, completes financing on 397MW portfolio
Gresham House Energy Storage Fund (GRID) has signed a Sale and Purchase agreement (SPA) for the conditional acquisition of a 480MW battery energy storage system (BESS) near Rayleigh, in Essex.
The conditions for the acquisition depend on the project receiving a favourable “Gate 2” connection offer, which is expected between September 2026 and January 2027.
Once the acquisition is completed, this would represent the fund’s largest BESS project in its portfolio, both operational and in development. Currently, its largest operational BESS is the 100MW Melksham, a nearly fivefold increase, while representing a twofold increase from two 240MW projects that are in the fund’s three-year plan pipeline.
“Rayleigh is an exciting project for GRID in terms of its sheer size, strategic location and, of course, potential investment returns and positive expected impact on the Company’s NAV per share. This project alone would add almost 50% to the currently operational portfolio’s installed capacity and greatly expands the new project pipeline already announced in our Three-year Plan,” said Ben Guest, Manager at GRID and managing director at Gresham House Asset Management’s Energy Transition division.
The company discussed the transaction and financings in a capital markets day presentation which we covered on ESN Premium.
See the full version of this article on Solar Power Portal.
Eelpower Energy acquires 50MW/100MWh BESS project in Devon
UK battery storage developer Eelpower Energy has acquired the 50MW/100MWh Stoneworthy battery energy storage system (BESS) project in Devon from renewable energy company Renewable Energy Systems (RES).
The project, located south of the Pyworthy substation in Devon, is scheduled to begin construction in 2027, with commercial operations expected in 2028. The financial terms of the acquisition were not disclosed.
Once operational, the Stoneworthy project will add 100MWh of storage capacity to Eelpower Energy’s growing pipeline as the company targets more than 1GW of grid-scale battery assets in the coming years.
“Stoneworthy is an important acquisition for Eelpower Energy and a strong addition to our growing battery storage portfolio. It demonstrates our ability to originate and execute attractive opportunities with high-quality counterparties such as RES, while underlining the commitment of Equitix, Aware Super and the National Wealth Fund to investing in the infrastructure needed for a cleaner, more flexible and more resilient electricity system in Great Britain,” said Mark Simon, CEO of Eelpower Energy.
