A drone shot of the Thorpe Marsh site. Image: Fidra Energy.

Edinburgh-headquartered Fidra Energy has received planning consent for its first battery storage site at Thorpe Marsh, Yorkshire.

Doncaster Council approved the 1,400MW/3,100MWh battery energy storage system (BESS) project, which will be the largest in the UK and one of the largest in Europe. The facility is being developed on 55 acres of land that was part of a former coal station site and is adjacent to an existing substation.

Sungrow will supply containers of lithium-ion based battery systems as part of a strategic agreement the two companies signed in November. Sungrow will also provide its liquid-cooled Power-Titan 2.0 BESS units for Fidra Energy’s 500MW/1GWh West Burton C project set to begin construction in 2026.

Fidra Energy was launched by energy investment firm EIG in September 2024, aiming at a 10GW operational portfolio across the UK and Europe by 2030. Its UK development pipeline sits at 3.15GW and, as well as Thorpe Marsh (formerly owned by Banks Renewables) and West Burton C, includes 1.2GW Bicker Fen 1&2 project in the East Midlands, and Nottinghamshire’s 500MW West Burton C development. 

Fidra’s chief executive officer Chris Elder called Thorpe Marsh “one of the most exciting infrastructure projects in the world”, adding that “as the largest battery energy storage site in the UK, the project will help turbocharge the UK’s ambitions of achieving a clean power system providing critical flexibility to store energy when there is excess renewable generation and release this when needed”.

Walid Mouawad, managing director and co-head of energy transition at EIG added: “This represents a significant step in EIG’s commitment to advancing large-scale energy assets in the UK and driving the country’s shift to a more sustainable, low-carbon future.”

EIG dipped its toe in the UK BESS sector in 2021 with the purchase of EDF’s 49MW West Burton B battery storage asset. The deal was part of EIG’s acquisition of 1,381MW of assets from EDF Energy which also saw it take on the 1,332MW combined cycle gas turbine (CCGT) West Burton B power station.

EIG created a new electricity supplier through the acquisition, West Burton Energy (WBE). In June 2024, WBE and EIG sold the power plant and BESS to TotalEnergies, for £450 million.

At the time, independent power producer (IPP) WBE said it, with support from EIG, would focus on growing its energy storage platform in the UK and Europe. It was WBE that initially took over the Thorpe Marsh BESS from Banks Renewables; with the sale of WBE’s operational assets to TotalEnergies, Fidra essentially took over its operations.