Europe’s largest battery storage facility is set to be constructed in the North East under plans for a £1bn project announced today. (Wednesday, May 22)
Teesworks Ltd has reached an agreement with leading battery storage specialist Natpower UK for an option to build a giant Battery Energy Storage System (BESS) at the Long Acres section of the 2,500 acre site.
The facility will enable up to 1000 Megawatts (MW) / 4000MWh of additional green energy to be plugged into the grid and will take up 50 acres of land.
There is also the potential to set up an electric vehicle charging facility as part of the complex.
Battery storage technology is essential to speeding up the replacement of fossil fuels with renewable energy.
Battery storage systems enable energy from renewables, like solar and wind, to be stored and then released when the power is needed most.
This helps to ensure homes and businesses can be powered by green energy, even when the sun isn’t shining or the wind has stopped blowing.
The agreement for an option to build the Natpower UK battery storage plant adds further to the raft of renewable energy projects set to come to the Teesworks site.
These include plans for blue and green hydrogen production plants and the Net Zero Teesside carbon capture utilisation and storage (CCUS) project.
Teesworks Development Director Matt Johnson confirmed the investment at the UK’s Real Estate Infrastructure and Investment (UKREiiF) in Leeds on Wednesday.
He said: “We are delighted to be able to announce this agreement.
“This is another fantastic vote of confidence in Teesworks and our mission to bring the latest cutting-edge renewable energy projects to the Tees Valley at scale.
“Battery storage forms a vital part of the green energy jigsaw so the prospect of Teesworks being home to the largest facility of its kind in Europe is a truly exciting one.”
NatPower UK is conducting the largest clean energy development programme in the UK, aimed at integrating large scale smart clean energy generation and distribution with large scale intermittent clean energy demand.
It aims to bring over 60 Gigawatt hours (GWh) of battery storage online in the UK by 2040.
The company is part of the NatPower group, a global energy transition developer with around 30 GW of natural power projects, with a presence in countries including the UK, USA, Italy and Kazakhstan.
The company has an ambitious expansion plan to become the largest and fastest growing global energy transition enabler.