Masdar’s first battery storage project in the UK begins operations

• Stockport, Cardiff and Chesterfield plants
• Investing $1bn in 3GWh pipeline
• UK targeting 27GW of battery storage

Abu Dhabi renewables company Masdar has started commercial operations at its battery energy storage system facility in Stockport, its first project under its £1 billion ($1.33 billion) investment in the UK.

The company is also developing two more projects in Cardiff and Chesterfield, the UAE state-owned Wam news agency reported. 

Battery storage solutions help stabilise intermittent energy supply from renewables, providing flexible energy to the grid by storing energy in periods of low demand and releasing it at peak times.  

Masdar has committed to investing £1 billion in a 3 gigawatt-hour (GWh) pipeline of battery energy storage system projects in the UK following its acquisition of Arlington Energy in 2022. 

The Stockport facility has a capacity of 20 megawatts (MW) or 40 megawatt-hours (MWh), which can power 20,000 homes for over two hours.

The Chesterfield and Cardiff projects, with a combined capacity of 150MW and 300MWh, can power more than 35,000 UK homes for an entire day. 

The UK government is targeting 27 gigawatts (GW) of battery storage by the end of the decade under its Clean Power 2030 Action Plan.

Masdar’s director for global offshore wind and UK Husain Al Meer said battery storage was “critical to helping the UK transform its energy systems and unlock more renewable deployment”.

In October Masdar broke ground on the first giga-scale 24/7 solar and battery storage project in Abu Dhabi.

The project will feature a 5.2GW solar plant, coupled with a 19GWh battery storage system, to deliver up to 1GW baseload power every day.

• Masdar pledges over $1bn for UK’s battery storage industry
• Masdar starts work on two UK battery storage projects
• Masdar strikes $14bn UK offshore wind farm deal

The UAE company’s projects in the UK include a €5.2 billion co-investment with Spain’s utility provider Iberdrola in the 1.4GW East Anglia Three offshore wind facility, which will provide power for 1.3 million homes.The 3GW Dogger Bank South offshore wind farm is being developed in partnership with Germany’s RWE.

Masdar has a clean energy capacity of over 51 GW and expects its portfolio to reach more than 100GW by 2030, the company says on its website. It has developed and partnered projects in more than 40 countries, cutting 14 million tonnes of carbon dioxide per year.

The company is held 43 percent by Abu Dhabi’s state-owned Taqa, 33 percent by Mubadala and 24 percent by Adnoc.