Cero Generation and Enso Energy have reached financial close on their 50MW battery project in Gloucestershire, England.
The development, due online by late 2024, will be co-located with the 50MW Larks Green solar farm, also jointly developed by the companies, which came online earlier in May.
This battery will help the UK energy system to better match green energy generation to demand, storing excess clean energy when there is an oversupply for use when there is a shortage or additional demand.
It will maximise the site’s efficiency by connecting to the transmission network using the same connection point as the solar farm, thereby enabling a greater output of clean energy, helping to lower costs for consumers and providing a secure and reliable power source.
The battery has been financed by Rabobank, which also financed the Larks Green solar plant.
The project has enabled the establishment of long-term partnerships with both Canadian Solar as the lead on the engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) for the site, and EDF as the facility’s performance optimiser.
As its first battery project to reach financial close, this announcement marks a significant milestone for Cero, which through its partnership with Enso, has over 30 stand-alone or co-located battery projects, amounting to over 2GW within its existing 5GW UK development pipeline.
Cero appointed EDF to optimise the site through its trading platform providing access to a variety of revenue streams for this asset, including the balancing mechanism, wholesale optimisation and ancillary services.
Larks Green is the UK’s first transmission-connected solar farm.
Transmission grid connection allows clean energy to be transported over greater distances and opens a gateway for larger projects to connect to the grid.