Renewable Power Capital, Eelpower Form JV for 1 GW Storage In UK

Renewable Power Capital (RPC), a pan-European renewable energy investment platform backed by CPP Investments, has announced that it has entered into the battery storage market in Great Britain, in partnership with Eelpower, the UK specialist battery storage company.

The official statement by RPC held that the new joint venture will acquire, build and operate utility-scale storage projects and is targeting to build up to 1 GW of storage, with a current pipeline of 240 MW to be built over the next 24 months.

The RPC-Eelpower for joint venture batteries will participate in wholesale electricity markets and provide ancillary services to National Grid, in support of the energy transition on the Great Britain electricity system. Battery storage projects are unsubsidised, underscoring the JV partners’ approach to investing in projects without government subsidy as a long-term project owner. RPC also said that its the first investment by the company in the UK and follows their recent acquisition of a 528 MW onshore wind portfolio in Sweden.

The agreement with RPC is Eelpower’s third joint venture in the Great Britain storage market within two years. In January 2021, it entered into a JV with SUSI Partners and in September 2021 it announced a JV with Next Energy Solar Fund which was expanded in September 2022 and recently acquired the development rights of a 250 MW storage portfolio in the East of England.

RPC said that Great Britain represents the largest utility scale battery storage market in Europe with 1.7 GW installed by the end of 2021. Forecasts predict growth to 10 GW by 2030, accompanied by continued growth in intermittent renewables penetration. Last month saw new records as wind generated 50% of the UK’s power over a day. Lithium-ion battery storage is the most flexible short duration storage technology currently available, said PRC.

Eelpower CEO Mark Simon said, “Eelpower was founded to make the transition to renewable energy sustainable, through the creation of a platform of grid-scale electricity storage assets. We are delighted to be working with RPC as a partner and intend that our joint venture leads the battery storage market in terms of scale, quality of assets and speed of deployment.” Stated Bob Psaradellis, CEO, RPC, “Battery storage will play a key role in decarbonising the grid and balancing intermittent renewable generation. The flexibility it provides will be central to building a twenty-first century grid. The GB market has real momentum behind it and presents one of the best opportunities in Europe. We are pleased to be working with Eelpower to enter this market.”