Irish state utility ESB has confirmed its entry into the UK grid-scale energy storage market with the purchase of a 7MWh facility from developer Anesco.
ESB has acquired the Mill Farm battery storage project, based near Grantham in Lincolnshire, for an undisclosed sum, the two companies confirmed this morning.
The facility, funded and developed by Anesco, went live in April 2018. While the project was unsuccessful in its attempt to land a Capacity Market contract earlier this year, Anesco said it would be used to provide grid support services to National Grid.
Anesco will continue to monitor the site under its O&M arm.
Jim Dollard, executive director of generation and wholesale markets at ESB, said the acquisition marked “another important milestone” for the utility and would enable it to develop enhanced expertise in battery storage.
“This will help to make electricity systems more stable and reliable, while allowing for enhanced performance and flexibility of our existing and future plant,” he added.
Mill Farm will complement ESB’s existing range of electricity generation assets in the UK, which includes two CCGT plants, three onshore wind farms and a biomass facility.
It’s not ESB’s first foray into energy storage, however. In December, the utility’s networks division threw its support behind StoreNet, a demonstrator project in Dingle which involves the installation of domestic batteries and linking them to form a virtual power plant.
