Fidra Energy secured up to £445m of new equity investment from EIG and the National Wealth Fund (NWF) as it reaches total funding of around £1bn for the UK’s largest Battery Energy Storage System (BESS) project at its Thorpe Marsh site in Doncaster, South Yorkshire.

Construction will now begin immediately and, in addition to the investment by EIG and the NWF, will be funded by new loan facilities of £594m from a club of international lenders. Thorpe Marsh is the largest standalone BESS project financed globally and the largest BESS financing in Europe so far.

The 1.4GW project, which is expected to be operational in 2027 is expected to be three times larger than any other BESS project currently in operation or under construction in the UK and will have the potential to export over 2TWh annually.

NWF’s initial commitment of up to £200m, alongside EIG’s commitment, will also help finance Fidra’s future pipeline, including the 500MW BESS project at West Burton, Nottinghamshire. Together Thorpe Marsh and West Burton could provide 11 per cent of the additional storage capacity needed under the Government’s Clean Power 2030 mission.

Fidra has signed long-term offtake agreements with EDF, Octopus Energy and Statkraft for around 80 pe cent of the Thorpe Marsh project’s capacity.

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