Durham Castle from the Cathedral. Image: Kenneth Yarham (geograph).
London-listed investment company, The Renewables Infrastructure Group Limited (TRIG), has secured a 100% equity interest in a Durham-based battery storage development project from RES, which when completed, will have a total capacity of 100MW/200MWh.
The battery energy storage system (BESS), named Project Spennymoor, is located close to a high voltage substation connection making it ideally situated to ease grid constraints, as well as provide balancing support for the Humber region industrial cluster – one of six major UK industrial clusters.
As RES had already obtained planning permission, land lease options, as well as securing a grid connection, Project Spennymoor was acquired in its late-stage development phase and operations will be able to commence in 2031.
TRIG has stated that it will try to bring the grid connection date forward if possible with construction works to begin a year before the agreed connection date.
The initial development investment equates to roughly 10% of the anticipated investment.
"TRIG's investment in Project Spennymoor deepens our position in the flexible capacity sector, which is going to become increasingly important as renewables penetration increases. Investments in battery storage projects such as these not only complement the renewable generation assets in the portfolio, but also leverage the strong expertise of InfraRed and RES," commented Richard Crawford, head of energy income funds, for TRIG’s advisors InfraRed Capital Partners.
Once live, TRIG expects that Project Spennymoor will represent 2% of its portfolio value, which includes three BESS projects totalling 250MW that TRIG announced its intention to purchase the development rights for in September.