Masdar completes first project in £1b UK battery storage investment

Abu Dhabi Future Energy Company - Masdar on Wednesday announced the start of commercial operations at its battery energy storage system (BESS) facility in Stockport, the first project to be completed under Masdar’s £1 billion commitment to invest in UK battery energy storage.

The company will also develop two new BESS projects in Cardiff and Chesterfield.

With a capacity of 20 megawatts (MW)/40 megawatt-hours (MWh), the Stockport facility, located in Welkin Road, can store enough clean electricity to power 20,000 homes for over two hours.

The Chesterfield and Cardiff projects, which will have a combined capacity of 150MW and 300MWh, will together store enough electricity to power more than 35,000 UK homes for an entire day. Construction began on the Stockport project in May 2024.

Following its acquisition of Arlington Energy in 2022, Masdar committed to investing £1 billion in a 3 gigawatt-hours (GWh) pipeline of BESS projects in the UK, part of the company’s wider commitment to the UK’s energy transformation. The UK government is aiming to build up to 27GW of battery storage by the end of this decade under its Clean Power 2030 Action Plan.

Husain Al Meer, Masdar Director, Global Offshore Wind & UK, said, “Today’s announcements demonstrate that we are accelerating progress towards delivering on our £1 billion pipeline. BESS is critical to helping the UK to transform its energy systems, unlock more renewables deployment, and bring tangible benefits to consumers, businesses, and local communities. Masdar is proud to be at the forefront of this sector in the UK and beyond.”

BESS solutions balance and stabilise the intermittent energy supply from renewables, providing flexible energy to the grid by storing energy in periods of low demand and releasing it at peak times. This flexibility enhances grid stability and energy security, supports the integration of renewable energy, and contributes to lowering consumer bills and carbon emissions.

Built to international standards of safety and security, Masdar’s BESS projects incorporate state-of-the-art fire detection and suppression systems, with 24-hour CCTV monitoring and local response capability.

Masdar’s UK BESS projects are also being built in close consultation with local stakeholders to ensure they deliver positive impact to local communities, as well as providing tangible national economic benefit.

The Welkin Road plant is located on a previously developed brownfield site in Stockport. Local biodiversity was enhanced during construction, with bird and bat boxes being provided to protect wildlife, the control of Japanese knotweed and the planting of naturally occurring flora. A community fund is also being established to donate money to local causes.

The Chesterfield project, located in Calow Green, will sit on land previously used for coal mining and will transform the area into a hub for clean energy generation and storage. The project development will respect the area’s agricultural character while repurposing previously disturbed ground for a positive environmental use, demonstrating how former industrial sites can be reimagined to support a sustainable energy future.

The Cardiff project is also situated on an industrial brownfield site, in Ipswich Road, repurposing under-utilised land and avoiding the need for new greenfield development, while making efficient use of established utilities and access routes.

In October, Masdar broke ground in Abu Dhabi on the world’s first gigascale 24/7 solar and battery storage project. The project will feature a 5.2GW solar plant, coupled with a 19GWh BESS, the largest and most technologically advanced system of its kind in the world, to deliver up to 1GW baseload power every day.

Masdar’s major projects in the UK market include a €5.2 billion co-investment with Iberdrola in the 1.4GW East Anglia THREE offshore wind facility, which will provide enough power for 1.3 million British homes, and the 3GW Dogger Bank South offshore wind farm being developed in partnership with RWE.

In March, Masdar said that it has reinforced its leadership in the global clean energy sector by deploying close to Dhs30 billion in equity investments and securing more than Dhs16.5 billion of project financing across nine countries. These accomplishments reflect Masdar’s commitment to expanding its renewable energy portfolio while driving the global energy transformation.

Since its establishment in 2006, Masdar has been a key enabler of the UAE’s vision as a global leader in sustainability and climate action. The company has developed and partnered in projects in over 40 countries, with a mandate to increase its renewable energy portfolio capacity to 100GW by 2030.

WAM