LONDON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Quinbrook Infrastructure Partners (“Quinbrook”), a specialist global investment manager focused exclusively on the infrastructure needed for the energy transition, today announced a partnership with E.ON to construct a 230MW/460MWh Battery Energy Storage System in South Wales at Uskmouth. E.ON will acquire 50% of the project capacity and jointly invest in its construction.
Uskmouth is one of the largest battery storage projects currently under construction in the UK and directly supports the country’s energy transition. Quinbrook acquired the exclusive development rights for the project in June 2022 and since then has completed all major development milestones including planning approvals, grid import agreements with National Grid, project design and equipment procurement, and commenced construction works in November 2023. The project is expected to be operational in Q1 2025.
“E.ON shares our commitment to sustainable development goals and recognises the meaningful impact that large scale regeneration projects like Uskmouth, a former coal power station stockyard, can make to the delivery of the Government’s Levelling Up ambitions,” commented Keith Gains, Managing Director and UK Regional Lead for Quinbrook. “We are pleased to welcome E.ON as a partner and look forward to working together to complete construction of this milestone project, which will be a key contributor to achieving the UK’s net zero targets.”
“This is a massive investment for E.ON in the UK’s energy system and an important recognition of the enormous potential for battery solutions in the UK,” said Chris Norbury, E.ON UK Chief Executive. “Battery energy storage sites will play a significant role in the future of the nation’s power provision and specifically in supporting ever greater sources of renewable energy. Battery plants around the country can allow us to make best use of all renewable energy sources by harnessing the energy and having it ready for use whenever it’s needed – increasing the share of renewable energy on the grid, helping secure supplies on the grid and making energy more affordable for our customers.”
Quinbrook affiliate Private Energy Partners undertook the detailed design and project development phases, led equipment procurement and will manage construction for the project on behalf of the joint venture.
Quinbrook’s policy is to prioritise the use of local contractors and specialists to perform construction works where practicable and has engaged contractor Jones Brothers to complete construction of the project. The site was formerly a coal-fired power station, and the project uses existing infrastructure such as the grid connection, industrial water supplies and railway access to deliver materials, battery and PCS containers directly to the site. This is minimising local impacts from construction activities and is expected to reduce road transportation by c. 230,000 miles by the end of construction. The project supported approximately 130 jobs in 2023 in Wales and the wider UK regions and is expected to support 140 jobs over 2024.
The Uskmouth battery storage project represents a major anchoring project in the planned re-development and regeneration of the Uskmouth site into a Sustainable Energy Park that will support innovative future industry.
About Quinbrook
Quinbrook Infrastructure Partners (http://www.quinbrook.com) is a specialist investment manager focused exclusively on renewables, storage and grid support infrastructure needed to drive the energy transition in the US, UK and Australia. Quinbrook is led and managed by a senior team of power industry professionals who have collectively invested c.USD 8.2 billion of equity in energy infrastructure assets since the early 1990s, representing a total enterprise value of c.USD 28.7 billion or 19.5 GW of power supply capacity. Quinbrook has completed a diverse range of direct investments in both utility and distributed scale onshore wind and solar power, battery storage, reserve peaking capacity, biomass, fugitive methane recovery, hydro and flexible energy management solutions in the US, UK, and Australia. Quinbrook is currently developing and constructing some of the largest renewables and storage infrastructure projects undertaken in the US, UK, and Australia.
