Solar and infrastructure investor NextPower UK ESG (NPUK) has acquired a 29MW, 2-hour duration standalone battery energy storage system (BESS) in Glasgow.
The ready-to-build project, dubbed Rutherglen, is NPUK’s 13th UK acquisition and its third acquisition in November. NPUK is a ten-year closed-ended private fund launched by NextEnergy Capital, an international solar investment and asset manager.
NPUK focuses on acquiring utility-scale solar and BESS assets at the ready-to-build stage, building projects to develop a large operating portfolio.
The Rutherglen BESS will be able to access multiple transmission interfaces between Scotland and England, allowing it to provide constraint management services to the National Energy System Operator (NESO) via the balancing mechanism. Through augmentation, the system could increase its capacity in the future.
Dario Hernandez, head of battery storage, NextEnergy Capital, commented: “The improvements in NESO dispatch capability, together with impressive lithium ion (Li-ion) technology and cost improvements, provide an excellent entry point for monetising standalone storage in the deep and liquid wholesale market. We continue to see BESS as a highly complementary asset to a solar portfolio.”
COO and head of investments for NextEnergy Capital, Ross Grier, added that the Rutherglen investment marks NPUK’s first standalone BESS project, “representing a significant milestone for the fund”.
NPUK’s portfolio now includes 49MW of battery capacity, while total BESS capacity across all NextEnergy Capital funds is over 700MW, including both operational and ready-to-build projects. The UK investor is actively fundraising, having secured about £683 million, and in May, Solar Power Portal reported that NPUK had secured funding from an unnamed UK-defined benefit pension scheme.
NPUK is backed by the UK Infrastructure Bank and has already received investment from UK public pension pool the Border to Coast Pensions Partnership. UK local government pension schemes, including LGPS Central, the Merseyside Pension Fund and the Brunel Pension Partnership, previously contributed to NPUK ESG’s closes.
In June this year, it energised its third utility-scale solar asset, the 24MW Pentlow project in Essex, bringing its operating solar capacity to 139MW. In October, NextPower UK ESG signed one of the largest recorded sleeved power purchase agreements (PPAs) for the Llanwern solar power plant in south Wales.
Anglian Water Services signed a 20-year inflation-linked deal with NPUK, covering 90% of the electricity from the project and any associated Renewable Energy Guarantees of Origin (REGO) certificates.
In November, the fund acquired the 18.5MW Locks Solar Farm in Hampshire, marking its 11th utility-scale solar project and bringing the total capacity of its portfolio to over 500MW.
