Masdar Arlington Energy, a subsidiary of Abu Dhabi Future Energy Company (Masdar), has commenced work at the sites of two new battery energy storage system (BESS) projects in the UK.

The ground breaking comes a year after Masdar announced plans to invest £1 billion ($1.27 billion) in the UK’s BESS sector.

The Royle Barn Road plant in Rochdale and Welkin Road plant in Stockport will have a combined capacity of 55 megawatts (MW), powering 25,700 homes.

The new BESS projects are being developed on previously industrialised sites, conforming to Masdar Arlington Energy’s strategy to build projects on land in need of redevelopment and regeneration.

Masdar Arlington Energy plans a 3-gigawatt-hour pipeline of BESS projects in the UK.

BESS provides a solution to the intermittent issues that affect renewable energy sources, storing excess electricity generated by solar plants and wind farms to be distributed during the periods when they are unable to provide power.

“Grid-level energy storage is critical to the long-term adoption of renewable energy in the grid,” said Masdar Director, Global Offshore Wind & UK Husain Al Meer.

Masdar acquired the UK-based Arlington Energy in October 2022 after establishing its global headquarters for offshore wind in the UK in 2021.

Masdar is active in more than 40 countries and has more than 20GW capacity, including operational, under-construction or advanced development projects worldwide. The company has invested, or committed to invest, more than $30 billion to generate 100 gigawatts by 2030.

(Writing by P Deol; Editing by Anoop Menon)

(anoop.menon@lseg.com)

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