Masdar starts work on two UK battery storage projects

Masdar

Masdar Arlington Energy, a subsidiary of UAE’s Masdar, has started construction on two battery energy storage system (BESS) projects in the UK.

The Royle Barn Road plant in Rochdale and Welkin Road plant in Stockport will have a combined capacity of 55 MW and provide enough energy to power 25,700 homes. 

Masdar acquired UK-based Arlington Energy in October 2022, after which it pledged to spend £1 billion ($1.27 billion) in BESS in the UK, targeting a pipeline of three gigawatt-hour projects.

• DP World and Masdar link up for project to decarbonise ports
• UAE’s Masdar to supply green fuel to CMA CGM
• Masdar expands renewables footprint to Jordan and Europe

The new projects are located on previously industrialised sites, conforming to its land redevelopment and regeneration policy.

 “To achieve the global energy transition agreed in the UAE consensus, we need to utilise world-changing renewable energy sources and technology, including wind, solar and battery energy storage,” said Masdar CEO Mohamed Jameel Al Ramahi.

The two BESS plants underline the critical role energy storage will play in helping energy systems and infrastructure in the UK and across the globe to move away from carbon-intensive sources of power, he said.

BESS provides a solution to the intermittency 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.

In 2021, Masdar established its global headquarters for offshore wind in the UK, recruiting a team to oversee its BESS and global offshore wind businesses.

Masdar has developed projects in more than 40 countries and is targeting a renewable energy portfolio capacity of at least 100 GW by 2030 and an annual green hydrogen production capacity of up to one million tonnes by the same year.