EDF has signed a long-term arrangement with solar and storage developer Elements Green to support delivery of the 360 MW/720 MWh Staythorpe battery energy storage system.
Scheduled to be operational in 2027, the project will be among the UK’s largest, providing flexibility to balance supply and demand and enabling more renewable power onto the grid. The partners say that, when operational, it will have the capacity to power over 95,000 homes for a full day.
Under the agreement, EDF’s Wholesale Market Services team will guarantee a minimum level of income from grid balancing, alongside the project’s 15-year Capacity Market contract. EDF will also operate the battery via its Powershift platform to capture value across available market opportunities.
Elements Green has recently reached financial close on a £140 million unitranche debt facility provided by Goldman Sachs Alternatives for Staythorpe, paving the way for full construction and energisation.
Stuart Fenner, Commercial Director at Wholesale Market Services at EDF, commented, “Staythorpe isn’t just another project. It is a major step in building the reliable, secure, low carbon power system Britain needs. Large-scale storage is essential to make the most of renewable energy, and with Elements Green we are giving this project the certainty and capability to deliver lasting value and real progress towards net zero.”
James Gates, CIO at Elements Green, added, “Staythorpe is exactly the kind of large-scale project that can make a meaningful impact on the UK’s energy system. Its location next to a major National Grid substation makes it ideally suited for better storage at scale, and partnering with EDF ensures we have the commercial framework in place to deliver reliable performance for decades to come”.
The move comes amid a rapid build-out of large BESS assets across Great Britain. Statera recently energised its 300 MW/600 MWh Thurrock battery near Tilbury, billed as the UK’s largest, and now Elements Green and EDF are set to go a step further with an either bigger BESS.
