Green energy firm Anesco has entered into a partnership with Green Hedge Energy UK which will see the two collaborate on the development of the latter’s Energy Barns concept.

The Energy Barns – essentially utility-scale storage installations – will be developed at four key sites in England, have a combined capacity of 40MW and be constructed over the coming months.

All four were successful in last month’s Capacity Market auction and will benefit from 15-year grid stabilising contracts.

Green Hedge Energy UK commercial director Tim Marsters said the firm was delighted to partner with Anesco to realise the Energy Barns concept having taken the projects through planning, grid connection agreements and Capacity Market pre-qualification.

Lee Adams, sales director at Anesco, added: “Since installing the UK’s first utility-sized battery over two years ago, and the dozen more that followed, we have remained the driving force behind the growth of energy storage in this country.

“The potential – and indeed need – for energy storage to support the grid is now starting to be fully recognised and we are seeing a huge growth of interest in this area. We currently have over 100MW of batteries ordered for delivery during 2017.“

The deal comes just a week after Green Hedge split its operations into two, effectively selling its O&M division Green Hedge Operational Services to German energy firm BayWa r.e.