Railpen, formerly known as RPMI, runs the railways’ pensions schemes on behalf of its parent, the Railways Pension Trustee Company Limited. It manages £34 billion of assets on behalf of over 350,000 members.

Its investment will support AGR in achieving its target of putting over 500MW of high quality renewable assets into operation by 2029.

Railpen has committed to invest in AGR’s near-term UK solar, battery energy storage system (BESS), and greenhouse projects.    Its backing will enable construction before 2026 of 160MWp of solar arrays, of 150MW in BESS, as well as AGR’s second sustainable greenhouse.

London-based AGR was co-founded in 2011 by Oliver Breidt.

Besides bringing forward onshore wind projects in the UK and northern Ireland under the Feed-in Tariff, plus solar farms across southern England & Ireland, it is known for one of Britain’s biggest and most technologically advanced greenhouses, the Fenland Greenhouse near Ely, Cambridgeshire, pictured above.

The project spans 22 hectares and produces over 2.5 million vegetables every week at peak output. The complex is powered through a combination of water-sourced heat pumps and CHP gas engines, coupled with a back-up boiler. Fenland I greenhouse spans 60Ha and produces over 2.5 million cucumbers per week. The project was initiated in 2021 as a standalone greenfield development and delivered to Greencoat Capital, part of Schroder’s Capital, in 2022.

For Railpen, its AGR investment reflects its commitment to investing in infrastructure, including directing £500m to UK energy projects since 2019. The company will be represented on the AGR board by Lewis Vanstone and Cristiana Dochioiu. AGR’s co-founder Oliver Breidt will remain as group director.

Breidt said: “I’m incredibly pleased to announce our partnership with Railpen in what is a landmark move for us. Railpen’s investment and reputation will help propel AGR into new territories and technologies, including our 1GW pipeline in Italy, and see us expanding our presence in Germany and into further agricultural assets.

“I’m very pleased to be working with Lewis and Cristiana who bring with them a wealth of experience. This will be a transformative chapter for AGR and our mission.”

Dochioiu, investment manager at Railpen added: “AGR’s approach to sustainable infrastructure development and investment matches Railpen’s ethos for sustainability and providing essential infrastructure to the UK.

“We are excited to work with the AGR team and Oliver to further develop the pipeline at AGR and drive positive change through our investment portfolio, building the critical infrastructure needed to support the UK’s transition to net zero. Railpen’s scale and long-term approach makes us an ideal partner for AGR’s ambitions to enhance energy and food security in the UK and Europe.”

Railpen were advised by parties including CMS for legal services, Grant Thornton on financial and tax and Willis Towers Watson on insurance. AGR were advised by lawyers Eversheds Sutherland.

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As the number of electric vehicles and battery-powered devices increases, the partnership brings together Enva’s nationwide collection infrastructure and extensive relationships with car dealerships, along with Altilium’s expertise in the recycling of old EV batteries and recovery of critical materials, including lithium.

Altilium’s proprietary EcoCathode process converts end-of-life EV batteries and manufacturing scrap into sustainable battery precursors, cathode active materials (CAM) and cathode precursor (pCAM) for direct reuse in new batteries.

Across its 38 sites in Britain & Ireland, Enva deploys latest technologies to recover as many valuable secondary materials as possible from industrial scrap.

Under the agreement, Enva and Altilium will work together to explore initiatives including the safe collection of EV batteries from across the UK for recycling using the EcoCathode process.

Using advanced hydrometallurgical recycling processes, Altilium can recover over 95% of the battery metals, in a format that can be directly reused in the production of new batteries.

The arrangement benefits Altilium by removing the need to set up its own collections, and in supplying relationships with waste producers and automotive OEMs.

The partnership will also provide feed Altilium’s intended Teesside refinery. Coded as ACT 4, Teesside is planned as Britain’s only depot refining lithium ion to battery-ready Cathode Active Materials (CAM), of high enough quality for direct re-use in making new batteries. Teesside will be big enough to recycle batteries from 150,000 EVs every year, producing 30,000 tonnes of CAM, enough to meet 20% of Britain’s expected demand as this decade ends.

Michael Sneath, head of Enva’s batteries division, commented: “Expert handling and storage of this potentially hazardous material is paramount.

“This collaboration will solve an emerging problem for our customers, enhancing the UK’s recycling capabilities and contributing to the circular economy by transforming used batteries into valuable raw materials for new batteries.”

His counterpart at Altilium, Rod Savage responded: “By leveraging Enva’s collection network and our processing expertise, we aim to set a new standard in battery recycling, ensuring maximum recovery of materials and supporting the growth of the EV market in an environmentally responsible way.”

Before the early 2030s, over 100 million EV batteries worldwide are expected to end their working lives.  By recycling Britain’s share within our borders, Altilium & Enva intend that valuable resources remain in the UK supply chain.

Altilium is the UK’s only company in upcycling old EV material to produce high nickel CAM for direct re-use in new powerpacks. Its proprietary EcoCathode process results in a 60% reduction in carbon emissions and 20% lower costs compared to virgin materials.

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Believed to be the biggest deal of its kind in the world, the contract will connect just over 50% of GRID’s large-scale batteries to Octopus’ technology platform Kraken.   Kraken’s unique AI and machine learning optimisation will charge GRID’s batteries at times of renewable energy glut and discharge them when Britain’s National Grid is under stress.

Such intelligent flexibility reduces wasteful instances of ‘curtailment’ or jettisoning cheap clean power when too much electricity – both low carbon & thermal – swamps Britain’s  transmission  & distribution networks.

‘Curtailment’ left UK energy bill payers with a staggering £800 million of costs in 2022.

Launched in 2018, Gresham House is the largest battery investment fund in the UK, owning around one-fifth of UK utility-scale storage. Octopus will take over half of GRID’s British-based large-scale battery fleet for the next two years.

Those 14 large-scale amp hotels & coulomb crèches can store in excess of 900MWh of electricity  – enough to power 1 million homes for an hour, or a city the size of Birmingham.

Its deal with Gresham House follows hot on the heels of Octopus reaching 1GW worth of shiftable load – the largest virtual power plant in the UK – through its electric vehicle (EV) tariff, Intelligent Octopus Go.

The supplier’s head of flexibility Kieron Stopforth said: “Every year the UK loses hundreds of gigawatt-hours of clean energy because our system isn’t flexible enough to keep it – PLUS have to pay for this senseless waste.

“Batteries unlock the clean and cheap energy system, storing green energy when it’s plentiful and providing it back to the grid when energy is expensive – and work even better with brilliant tech to manage that optimisation,

“Through this landmark deal with Gresham House Energy Storage Fund, we’re not only increasing the size of our virtual power plant to over 1.5GW, we’re also unlocking the power of flexibility, aiming to drive down grid costs.”

Ben Guest, fund manager of Gresham House Energy Storage Fund plc & MD of Gresham House New Energy, said: “These new contracts with Octopus Energy secure revenues which are above those currently being achieved in the national market, demonstrating the value batteries can provide in balancing supply and demand for retail and wholesale market players.”

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Chemicals-to-energy combine Worley and advanced battery technologists Nano One are teaming up to boost deployment of the latter’s One-Pot process.  It makes high-quality materials for cathodes, while claiming a lower environmental impact than prevailing alternatives.

Crucially, say the partners, One-Pot eliminates wastewater contaminated with sodium sulphate, a major challenge in current processes for making cathodes, the electron-emitting terminals of most batteries.

Sodium sulphates are commodities used in much industrial chemistry, including as a filler for dry detergents and in bulking up wood pulp to make paper.

The strategic alliance could be instrumental in accelerating the development and deployment of a new generation of battery cathode material plants sold and licensed to operators globally.

Nano One and Worley, a multinational with Australian origins, will integrate the One-Pot process into a design package, enabling customers to create competitive CAM production facilities to meet growing market demand.

The initial focus will be on lithium ferro phosphate (LFP) cathode chemistries. Other varieties will be addressed in time.

Worley Chemetics will design and fabricate the process reactors, incorporating metal alloys specifically designed for corrosive environments. Additionally, Nano One and Worley will continue to innovate process and plant designs to create a design-once-build-many growth strategy.

Nano One’s CEO Dan Blondal commented: “We expect this partnership to add value and significantly de-risk the One-Pot process, using Worley Chemetics’ patented metal alloys, reactor design and fabrication capability, and the technical and delivery capability of the broader Worley organisation”.

Laura Leonard, Worley’s group president for technology, fourth from left in the image above, remarked: “Nano One’s innovative One-Pot process is a game-changer for the production and performance of battery materials. Combining Nano One’s technology with our expertise and scale in battery materials will advance Worley’s growth strategy while accelerating the deployment of this important technology.”

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The public welcomes the prospect of zero-emissions aviation technologies, despite unfamiliarity and even some concerns over their viability.

Researchers for the Jet Zero Council, a partnership between the UK government, industry and academia focused on reducing aviation emissions, quizzed 2,000 travellers about their attitude to kerosene-bereft flying.

They found British adults need thorough reassurance that any new aviation technologies are rigorously tested to ensure their safety before they are introduced commercially.

On average, they believe zero-emissions aviation – i.e. battery- and hydrogen-powered aircraft – to be around 15 years off commercial use.

Despite concerns about range and weight, 37% said they would fly on a battery powered aircraft, and a further 40% said they’d consider it. The public is more confident about hydrogen-powered aircraft, with 35% saying they would take a flight powered by hydrogen, and a further 47% said they’d be open to it.

Emma Gilthorpe, CEO of the Jet Zero Council, says, “It’s great to see how confident the general public are about zero-emissions aviation technologies. Battery- and hydrogen-powered aircraft are a crucial part of decarbonising the future of flight, and it is important that industry makes it as easy as possible for the public to embrace these technologies as they enter service”.

Rachel Gardner-Poole, Chair of the Jet Zero Council Zero Emission Flight Delivery Group, says, “It is really helpful to see the views of the general public on these important topics.  Battery electric aircraft are already being used on a daily basis by some UK-based private flying schools, and will expand significantly to urban and rural settings in the near future, with regional flight also anticipated. Meanwhile, emerging hydrogen propulsion will be capable of domestic flights, and in the longer term, international routes will be flown using hydrogen. Jet Zero Council members are at the forefront of this work and it’s very exciting to see that some of these technologies are projected to enter the commercial market before the end of the decade.”

“It’s important to recognise that aviation is already on the journey to net zero. Commercial flights are using Sustainable Aviation Fuel right now, which are a key part of aviations sustainable future, alongside the zero-emissions aviation technologies of the future”.

“As an industry, we need to clearly communicate the safety and performance of these new technologies and I look forward to the day when transatlantic flight has zero impact on the environment.“

To find out more about the Jet Zero Council, visit https://www.gov.uk/government/groups/jet-zero-council.

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Work at the facility of trial partner Sibelco – illustrated – will start in coming weeks, with commissioning scheduled for September, the hydro engineer said today.

Low-carbon electricity made by RheEnergise’s 500kW HD Hydro demonstrator will support Sibelco’s operations at times of high power demand. The Cornwood mine produces kaolin, mainly for sanitary ware, ceramics, tiles and industrial applications.

Funding the proof-of-concept trial are the government’s Longer Duration Energy Storage (LODES) Demonstration Programme. Devon County Council’s planners also permitted the project.

RheEnergise says its high-density R-19 fluid, two and a half-times heavier than water, is more potent in generating clean electricity when released from lesser heights & in smaller amounts than from conventional dams.

Low-rise hills, not mountains, are thus the sites RheEnergise sees as fitting its intended grid-scale provision of 4 to 16 hours of storage in the 10MW to 100MW power range. It calculates Europe alone has around 115,000 suitable spots, lending themselves to grid connections.

Founder Stephen Crosher says the firm has received enquiries from 30 countries about its technology. In February the firm raised £335,000 from the Low Carbon Innovation Fund.

RheEnergise says its offering is among the few methods of utility-scale power storage which can be scaled up quickly and globally.  One forecast foresees the world’s long duration energy storage (LDES) market growing to US $4trillion by the late 2030s.

Ben Uphill, director operations at its partner Sibelco said “We are looking at new ways to manage and secure our future energy needs, so we’re excited about the potential contribution that RheEnergise’s world-first hydro storage project can make to our operations. ”

Crosher said the firm intends to have its  first 10MW grid-scale project in operation within two years.

“We are hugely appreciative of the support and assistance given to us by Sibelco, the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero and Devon County Council”, he commented.

“Our scheme will help Sibelco’s energy security at Cornwood and show the long-term contribution it can make to the company’s Net Zero ambitions.”

RheEnergise will be exhibiting at the Innovation Zero event at London’s Olympia on April 30 and May 1.

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Harmony Energy develops, owns and operates utility-scale battery energy storage systems (BESS), solar farms and wind assets across Europe and New Zealand. It currently has 516MW (1.032GWh) of BESS operational capacity, with a further 268MW (536MWh) under construction and a global pipeline of over 11GW. 

The company’s first battery energy storage site went live in June 2020 and, since then, HarmonyEnergy has developed 14 sites, including the three largest BESS in Europe (by MWh).  

Chris Cullen, senior relationship manager at Triodos Bank UK, said, “Flexible technologies, like batteries, form a key part of the UK’s energy system transition to net zero. They not only support the integration of more low-carbon power, heat and transport technologies, but are also vital for a renewable energy system to become a reliable alternative to the fossil fuel-based system. As a sustainable bank, a key focus of our lending over the next decade will be on projects like this, that work towards a future of reliable clean energy.” 

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The Electric Thames project is a collaboration of the south-east’s distribution grid operator UKPN, low carbon innovators Marine Zero and consultants LCP Delta.

Reducing carbon emissions in a city once known as The Smoke, the trio foresee electric-powered vessels helping to power London’s energy network, at least at the margins, and generating income for commercial vessel operators on the Thames.

Amps caught, at Amp-ton Court  

Still on the drawing board, the parties’ feasibility study is now running the numbers on using electric vessels to feed stored power back into the capital’s electricity network, accelerating the transition to Net Zero.

Expanding city-wide the principle of home night storage heaters, battery-powered vessels on the Thames could store green energy when the wind blows or the sun shines, then feed it back to the grid during peak electricity hours.

Cruising for coulombs

The approach could help increase the capital’s flexible energy capacity and reduce peak electricity demand.

The Electric Thames venture complies with the Port of London Authority’s intention annnounced in February to reach Net Zero in the river’s operations by 2040.

Its research centres on scaling up electric riverine transport, from easily converted pleasure cruisers, to diesel-powered pilot boats, tugs and commercial freighters.  Even the 50 barges run every day by Cory Group to collect non-recyclable waste from depots at Wandsworth, Barking, Battersea and others, are believed to fall within the study.

Funded by Ofgem, Electric Thames’ discovery phase ends next month, as it assesses responses from vessel and quay operators, mapping out their power needs.

Insights yielded will allow UKPN to plan works needed to facilitate the move to cleaner vessel and transport operations on the Thames.

Take me to the river, drop me in the water

Passenger carrying boats powered by electricity are a growing market.  In Berlin at least one operator hires out electric cruisers by the hour to tourists.

Swedish boatmaker Candela builds a range of battery-powered hydrofoils. Lifting away from the water’s drag, its new P-12 model takes only 16 seconds to reach 30 knots, carries the same number of passengers and joins Stockholm’s mass transit system this year. Founder Gustav Hasselskog blogged recently; “We’re jump-starting production to keep up with demand.”

Back on the Thames, UK Power Networks’ head of innovation Luca Grella said: “This is a first-of-its-kind project in Britain, and one that is operating at the forefront of energy innovation. Tapping into this potential will not only help us create a cleaner Thames for everyone but will also give us an additional supply of flexible, green energy which will help our transition to a decarbonised energy system.

“We’re thrilled to be leading the way.  We are looking forward to seeing how this approach could be scaled to other rivers across the country.”

Ferry, cross the Murky

Andy Hurley, director at Marine Zero, said: “Electric Thames isn’t just about achieving zero emissions on our capital’s river – it is even more exciting and significant than that.

“Along with our partners, we’re developing a completely new approach to increasing energy flexibility by developing new income streams new and flexible solutions for vessel and quay operators.

“We are delighted that Marine Zero has been selected to support the discovery phase of the project using our maritime experience and intelligence. We look forward to engaging with operators along the Thames over the coming weeks.”

His Falmouth-based company is developing what it believes is Britain’s first electric ferry, which charges by being plugged into a floating buoy.

Last year Marine Zero was awarded £3million by the Department for Transport to make a prototype electric-powered replacement for the St Mawes ferry in Cornwall.  The service  carries up to one million passengers a year.

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Today’s latest estimate of the price of Britain’s slow investment in tested utility-scale BESS (battery and energy storage systems) comes from battery developers Field.

A notorious pinch point in Anglo-Scots transmission, known as the ‘B6’ boundary, intermittently blocks cross-Border electricity flows, themselves a legacy of too-slow investment in long-distance transmission, the battery developer asserts. The result is British homes and organisations left avoidably on the hook for hundreds of millions, while years are spent in network upgrades.

Grid capacity constraints plus substituting gas-fired power for wasted renewables, added nearly £1 billion of ‘curtailment’ costs to electricity bills for homes and businesses in 2023, the company calculates. Abundant energy from wind farms was unable to be transmitted to areas of demand.

The majority of last year’s £920 million total cost was caused by bottlenecks at the B6 boundary. Analysis published  by Field estimates this boundary alone could cause up to £2.2 billion of curtailment costs by 2030, if left unaddressed. Overall UK curtailment costs could reach £3.5 billion by that date.

The firm’s analysis also asserts that wind farms in Scotland are being curtailed as much as 40% of the time. Transmission capacity across key boundaries in the UK, including at B6, rarely has more than a 50% utilisation rate, further restricting backbone power flows.

Increasing the amount of “intertrip services” which the NG- ESO can buy and using “Grid Booster” batteries could both help solve problem. The latter technology, says Field, is already being deployed in continental Europe and Australia.

Around 90% of the curtailment fees linked to the B6 boundary could be solved by adding 10GW of energy storage nearby, Field suggests.

It calls on co-operation between the now independent NG-ESO , Ofgem and D-ESNZ to:

• Prioritise cost effective measures like batteries and related services to maximise use of the existing grid.
• Opt for physical batteries before focusing on market-based mechanisms such as zonal pricing. The latter will unnerve investors certainty, and take a long time to implement.

 Field’s CEO Amit Gudka commented:

“In an era where energy bills remain high and carbon emissions keep rising, it’s alarming that we’re wasting clean, cheap, abundant energy on a daily basis. As our analysis suggests, this problem is getting worse, not better.

“More efficient use of established technologies, such as battery storage, would dramatically reduce curtailment costs and network investment needs. It would also reduce the need for expensive, complex and disruptive market-based mechanisms such as zonal pricing”

Operators of backbone transmission have begun addressing the problem. The Eastern Green Links (EGL) 1 and 2 connectors, both rated at 2GW and with the latter backed by National Grid’s and SSE’s transmission units, last year received initial planning consent.

Due for commissioning in 2029, EGL2 will run for 290 miles under the ocean from Peterhead to east Yorkshire, near Drax.

Three more 525kV connectors are on transcos’ drawing boards. And last month the NG-ESO announced £58 billion worth of improvements, intended to add 86GW of new transmission capacity alone by 2035.

Commissioning such wider pipes cannot come too soon, says Field.

Founded three years ago, its first BESS unit, a 20MWh device in Oldham, began homing ohms in 2022.  Within a pipeline of 4.5 GWh of further projects, Field claims 410 MWh of sites are either shovel-ready or already in construction.

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The 49MW/98MWh standalone project near Abernethy in Perth & Kinross, pictured, progressively came online from November 2023 as improvements to the site were signed off. The device was fully energised early last month.

The Jamesfield BESS includes two-hour duration Tesla Megapack lithium-ion batteries, enabled by Tesla’s Autobidder AI software for real-time trading and control. Leading independent renewable energy company RES is asset manager.

TagEnergy CEO Franck Woitiez said  “This is another important marker for TagEnergy in the UK and beyond, as we use our substantial expertise in storage to help stabilise the grid.

“We are proud to have delivered another vital project, this time with our valued partner Harmony Energy, that will enable more people to connect to more competitive renewable power.”

Jamesfield is TagEnergy’s third UK storage project to become operational, after Hawkers Hill Energy Park and Chapel Farm.

Since formation in 2019, the developer has assembled a 12GW portfolio based on solar, wind and battery storage technologies, spread across the UK, Portugal, Spain, France and Australia. 1GW of the total is under construction or operation.

Harmony’s CEO Peter Kavanagh said: “The completion of Jamesfield BESS is another significant milestone for our valued partnership with TagEnergy, following the success of our other joint venture site, Chapel Farm.

“Battery energy storage systems are vital for unlocking the full potential of renewable energy in the UK.  They play a pivotal role in advancing the Net Zero transition, and are crucial for reducing Britain’s dependence on foreign gas imports.”

Jamesfield became a joint venture with Harmony Energy in November 2021, with TagEnergy’s acquisition of a 60% stake in the project. Santander UK supported the deal with £12.5m funding.

Those projects, together with other projects under construction, take TagEnergy’s secured portfolio in the UK to date to 320MW/640MWh. 

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The science and technology committee’s enquiry into mass adoption of high volume, long duration electricity storage beyond the two hour mark, accuses ministers of dithering, and sending confusing signals to investors, system operators, developers and distributors.

Storage as an enabler of carbon-free power needs urgent support in order to scale up in time to meet Net Zero, says the committee.  But currently its backers confronts a policy void in Whitehall.

Storage technologies for power reserves lasting potentially months include chemical-, terrain, marine- and gravity-based methods. In general terms the committee favours hydrogen as the most widely applicable, due to its low cost of production and ubiquity.

Under the blunt title ‘Get on with it’, their Lordships’ report lists key recommendations, including

• Speeding up decisions needed for D-ESNZ’s anticipated energy system plan. These include choices needed on hydrogen, seen as a front-runner technology by the committee, as a mainstay of supra-two hour storage mechanisms.

“The UK cannot wait for decisions in 2025 and 2026 to invest in storage if the commitment to a secure decarbonised electricity system by 2035 is to be realised”, the committee warns.

• Commit to a strategic power reserve. Ministers should accept the National Infrastructure Commission’s goal of 25 TWh of electricity a year by 2040, says the committee.

“We are concerned that the Government seems to have only just begun thinking about whether it needs a strategic reserve and has no clear plan for supply shocks”, the report admonishes.

• State a minimum national target for energy storage. The government should assess and acknowledge the likely minimum scale of storage across different durations needed to balance the energy system”, the committee urges. “This will set the scale of ambition that policies to support storage must meet.

Interest from private investors has been strong in recent years; McKinsey is among consultants maintaining a working group composed of multinational corporations. In 2021 it recommended that global long-term storage capacity should reach between 1.5 and 2.5 GWh by 2040.

Commenting on the report – available here –  consultant Jack Green-Morgan from Dods Political Intelligence said,

“The Lord committee adds fuel to the argument that the UK needs to rapidly invest in new technologies to improve domestic energy security and reduce emissions from the power sector”.

“Investing in long-term energy storage has the potential to make more efficient use of cheap renewable energy by storing energy when output is higher than demand, and releasing it when demand exceeds output.

“Published just one day after the Energy Secretary announced the government would support the construction of new unabated gas power plants”, Green-Morgan added, “the committee will feel vindicated in their assessment that the failure to invest in flexible energy storage has increased the UK’s reliance on fossil fuels and vulnerability to external shocks”.

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The £2million Renewables for Subsea Power (RSP) project connects the Blue X wave energy converter – built by Edinburgh company Mocean Energy – with a Halo underwater power storage system. The battery is the contribution of Verlume, an Aberdeen-based firm of specialists in intelligent energy management.

RSP’s final phase will begin in coming days. All equipment will be removed from the site, ahead of inspection onshore in Orkney and at Verlume’s operations base in Dyce, Aberdeen.

The cross-disciplinary trial, located three miles east of Orkney, sought to show how green technologies can combine to provide dependable, continuous low carbon power and communications to subsea equipment.  It offers a cost-effective future alternative to cables, whose drawbacks include are their long lead times and high upfront carbon footprint.

In recent months oil giants TotalEnergies and Shell Technology’s marine renewable programme have joined project leads Mocean Energy and Verlume in the pan-industry initiative. Also involved are Britain’s Net Zero Technology Centre, Thailand’s state fossil fuel extractor PTTEP, and four more partners.

 “The programme has been a tremendous success,” judges Andy Martin, Verlume’s chief commercial office.

“This phase was conceived as a four-month at-sea demonstration. But the quality of data and the robustness of our combined technologies led us to extend the programme. We now have increasing confidence in the reliability and the commercial potential of this system.”

From NZTC, Graeme Rogerson was just as enthusiastic: “It’s fantastic to see RSP successfully demonstrated.  It shows what’s possible when innovative technology is given the right financial and industry support.

“This is only the beginning for Mocean Energy’s Blue X wave energy converter and Verlume’s Halo underwater battery storage system; future phases will further accelerate the technology’s development and accelerate commercialisation, which is always the end goal.”

 After assessment, further uses may include repeating a second scheme in Scottish waters, or a venturing overseas. The prize is proving further how RSP’s combination of green technologies can enable reliable low carbon power and communications to subsea equipment.

In 2021, the consortium invested £1.6million into phase two of the programme – which saw the successful integration of the core technologies in an onshore test environment at Verlume’s operations facility in Aberdeen.

The same year Mocean Energy’s Blue X prototype underwent a programme of rigorous at-sea testing at the European Marine Energy Centre’s Scapa Flow test site in Orkney, where it generated first power and gathered key data on machine performance and operation.

Verlume’s subsea battery energy storage system, Halo, has been specifically designed for the harsh underwater environment, reducing operational emissions and facilitating the use of renewable energy by providing a reliable, uninterrupted power supply. Halo’s fundamental basis is its intelligent energy management system, Axonn, a fully integrated system which autonomously maximises available battery capacity in real time.

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The transaction covers Wärtsilä’s second contracted delivery of an energy storage system to Zenobē, and is one of Scotland’s largest to date.

It will be the first facility built with Wärtsilä’s Quantum High Energy, a next-generation energy storage system. Quantum^HE provides increased energy density for Zenobē and is fitted with state-of-the-art features to ensure the highest level of safety for the surrounding community. It is is expected to be operational by the end of 2025.

The project will be delivered under the National Grid’s NOA Stability Pathfinder programme, which aims to cost-effectively address stability issues in the electricity system created by the increased adoption of intermittent renewable generation.

The latest device will help grid operators to better balance supply and demand and ensure that the country’s abundant wind generation is not wasted. The project is expected to abate 3,400,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions over the next 15 years.

“Wärtsilä is proud to partner with Zenobē to accelerate the transition to renewable energy in Scotland,” said Andy Tang, vice president, Wärtsilä energy storage.

“This project brings Wärtsilä’s portfolio of energy storage assets in the United Kingdom over 2 gigawatt hours. We are committed to assisting customers in the UK reach their national decarbonisation targets through innovative energy storage solutions.”

The latest venture  project follows the announcement in February 2023 of a 200 MW / 400 MWh energy storage system Wärtsilä will deliver to Zenobē in Blackhillock, Scotland. Now under construction, pictured, Blackhillock is on track to work by autumn 2024.

“Reaching this significant milestone demonstrates Zenobē’s commitment to better utilise wind power and support its growth by doubling Scotland’s battery storage capacity. Kilmarnock South will enhance the country’s position as a leader in delivering energy that is cost-effective, clean and efficient,” commented Zenobē’s founder James Basden.

The Kilmarnock South project is Wärtsilä’s second project being delivered to meet NOA Stability Pathfinder requirements. Wärtsilä’s intelligent energy management system, the GEMS Digital Energy Platform, will ease network constraints by importing electricity at times of peak renewable generation. GEMS’ data-based intelligence will enable Zenobē to participate in the most valuable UK electricity markets.

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The company already has operations in Britain and Australia. Now it is allying with Milan-based battery developer ACL Energy and BW ESS, a global storage firm.

ACL will lead its international partners towards satisfying the peninsular’s burgeoning demand for grid-scale batteries, expected to be one of Europe’s most active.  Italy’s transmission system operator Terna estimates that Italy will need around 27GW of energy storage capacity by 2033, accommodating a planned 120 GW+ of renewable generation connected to the Italian grid.

Each of the trio will become joint shareholders in three projects at development stage totalling 395MW connection capacity, and jointly fund them.

Penso Power CEO Richard Thwaites, pictured, said: “Italy is a priority market for us and the combination of skillsets that this joint venture brings together positions us to take a leading role in Italian energy storage.

“We have been working closely with BW ESS for several years and have benefitted from having them as a shareholder and project partner.  We regard the ACL team very highly and are delighted to formalise our partnership with them.”

The 111MW project in Lombardy and the 97MW project in Puglia have been submitted to the Italian Ministry of Energy for approval.  The 187MW project in Piemonte will be submitted for approval later this year.

ACL Energy managing partner Nicola Locascio said: “We are proud to enter this partnership with international players with such successful track record in the energy storage industry such as Penso Power and BW ESS”.

In October 2021 Penso and BW Group announced a joint venture agreement which commits BW to fund the build out of Penso Power’s UK project pipeline totalling more than 3GWh.

ACL Energy was advised by the law firm Eversheds Sutherland.  BW ESS and Penso Power were advised by the law firm Bird & Bird.

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The acquiree was formerly a sister company of Hydrock Consultants, TRIG told investors today. Its record in storage ventures swells TRIG’s pipeline of late-stage battery projects.

Fig Power has nine grid-scale projects in advanced development, totalling 400MW among its complete portfolio of 1.7GW.   Its two-hour projects are expected to participate principally in the UK wholesale and balancing markets.    They are not expected to depend for revenues on ancillary services, which Fig regards as shallower than the wholesale and balancing markets.

TRIG said its new unit may also consider development opportunities in solar PV.

Payment will be made over the next two years, during which Fig will raise funds by selling planning-approved projects yet to be constructed.

TRIG invests in wind, solar and storage projects across six European countries. Its portfolio’s net generating capacity is over 2.8GW.

InfraRed Capital Partners advised on the deal. Its head of energy income funds Richard Crawford said the Fig Power purchase built on four battery investments that TRIG had added at development-stage in 2022. Construction of the first began last month.

Also in storage investment, high-density fluid specialists RheEnergise has secured £335,000 in equity participation from the Low Carbon Innovation Fund.

The developer’s business model is to drop high-mass proprietary fluid down low-rise gradients to generate electricity at times of high demand.

RheEnergise’s grid-scale solution provides 4 to 16 hours of storage in the 10MW to 100MW power range.  It says its offering is among the few longer term storage solutions which can be scaled rapidly and globally.

Besides the UK and Ireland, RheEnergise is investigating opportunities in north America, Chile and Australia, buoyed by a global LDES market forecast to be worth US$4trillion before the late 2030s.

Its CEO Stephen Crosher, pictured, said: “LCIF and the commitments from other investors underlines the exciting growth potential of our HD Hydro technology.  Over the past 12 months, we have had customer interest in our work from over 30 countries”.

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