Field's first UK BESS project in Oldham came online last year. Image: Field.

 

Battery energy storage system (BESS) developer Field has received a £200 million investment from DIF Capital Partners.

 

Field will use the funds provided by the infrastructure equity fund manager to support the development of its 4.5GWh pipeline of grid-scale BESS projects across the UK and Western Europe.

 

In the UK, Field has a number of BESS projects currently under or near construction, with a combined capacity of 210MWh. These are situated in Newport, South Wales, Blackburn, Gerrards Cross in Buckinghamshire and Auchteraw in the Scottish Highlands.

 

Field’s first BESS asset in the UK, a 20MW project situated in Oldham, Greater Manchester, became operational towards the end of last year.

 

The battery storage developer, formerly known as Virmati Energy, stated that the site had originally been scheduled to come online in April 2022.

Gijs Voskuyl, partner and deputy CEO at DIF, said: “We’re very excited to make a second investment in the battery storage sector which we see as a critical component for the UK energy industry to reach Net Zero and which we see as highly complementary to DIF’s extensive renewable energy portfolio. We are looking forward to working with the Field management team.”

 

In June 2022, Field secured £77 million in funding as it looked to continue the rapid expansion of its portfolio. This was made up of £30 million of equity funding from early-stage investor Plural with the remaining £47 million coming as a debt facility secured from Triple Point Energy Transition (TENT).

 

Field's stated goal is to rapidly build battery sites across the UK, targeting 1.3GWh of operational assets by 2024.

 

Amit Gudka, CEO of Field, said: “We will not be able to meet net zero targets without significant investment in new energy infrastructure. Battery storage is a critical part of that infrastructure. The more we can build, the more effective mass-usage of wind and solar power will become.” 

“Our partnership with DIF Capital Partners will enable Field to accelerate the buildout of battery storage in the UK and across Europe. And it will help us build, develop and operate the storage we need to create a more reliable, flexible and greener grid,” he added.