New BESS project in Scotland set to utilise Tesla Megapack lithium-ion batteries.

TagEnergy and Harmony Energy have confirmed construction has started on a 49MW/98MWh standalone battery energy storage system (BESS) situated near Abernethy, Scotland, with financial support from Santander UK.

The Jamesfield development is the third BESS project being developed as part of a pre-established joint venture with Harmony Energy. This agreement saw TagEnergy acquire a 60% stake in the project in November 2021 with Santander UK additionally investing £12.5 million in capital to support its development.

Much like the previously announced Chapel Farm and Hawkers Hill BESS projects, Jamesfield will use a system of Tesla Megapack lithium-ion batteries alongside a Tesla Autobidder AI software for real-time trading and control.

The project is expected to be operation in Q4 of 2023 with renewable energy firm RES established as the asset manager.

“This is another important milestone in TagEnergy’s growth in the UK as we leverage our strong storage expertise to support the UK grid and propel the nation to net-zero carbon emissions by connecting more competitive renewable power,” said Franck Woitiez, CEO of TagEnergy.

“We are excited to enter this next phase in the project in partnership with Harmony Energy and with the support of Santander UK as we grow our UK footprint to accelerate the energy transition.”

Jamesfield is recognised as the third TagEnergy investment in UK BESS facilities to reach financial close after it entered the UK market in 2021. Commissioning of its first project, Hawkers Hill Energy Park, took place in September 2022 and construction of its second project, Chapel Farm, started in February 2022.

“We have been working on this site for over four years and are delighted to be progressing to this next stage with TagEnergy, following our partnership which was announced in 2021. Securing debt funding from Santander UK demonstrates a growing appetite from institutions to support battery developments and we look forward to working with it,” said Peter Kavanagh, CEO of Harmony Energy.

TagEnergy is further expected to develop a rich portfolio of BESS projects having established a partnership with Balance Power to build, own and operate 500MW of BESS across the UK. Running alongside this partnership, the two firms confirmed an aim to invest over £300 million in order to construct the projects over a period of four years.

The Jamesfield project kicks off a strong start for Harmony Energy having seen a successful end to 2023. Kavanagh confirmed in late November that the 98MW Pillswood project, which he described as “the largest of its kind in Europe by energy capacity”, had gone live ahead of schedule.

The site, located in Hull, uses a Tesla two-hour Megapack system and has the capacity to store as much as 196MWh of electricity in one cycle.

It was originally planned to go online over two phases in December 2022 and March 2023, however the plans were accelerated in an effort to support the National Grid in providing stability to the UK’s power supply.