Shell Energy Europe has joined forces with Vodafone Procure & Connect to establish how battery energy storage systems (BESS) could become an increasingly important part of grid management systems in the years to come.
The two companies aim to gain insights into the functionality of BESS assets to establish how they can support energy demand balancing and flexibility services as greater volumes of renewable energy come online and place increased pressure on grid systems. Vodafone Procure & Connect will gain access to a portion of the operational benefits of the Bramley BESS development, a 100MW/331MWh, 3-hour duration BESS owned by BW ESS and optimised by Shell.
The Bramley BESS was energised in mid-February of this year, with BW ESS securing a debt financing deal from Australian bank Westpac and Singapore-based finance institution UOB for the project in late May 2025. BW ESS agreed a seven-year tolling agreement with Shell Energy Europe in August of last year. The project is the first project in Europe to deploy Sungrow’s PowerTitan 2.0 liquid-cooled BESS, which combines a 2.5MW power conversion system using integrated string inverters and a 5MWh battery in one battery container.
Ninian Wilson, global supply chain director at Vodafone and CEO of Vodafone Procure & Connect, said that the partnership gives the firms an opportunity to explore the future role of energy flexibility in the firm’s long term sustainability efforts. Wilson added that the agreement is: “an important step that reflects our commitment to reducing carbon emissions across our supply chain.”
Rupen Tanna, head of European power trading at Shell, agreed and added: “This collaboration shows how companies in different sectors can work together to test innovative approaches to energy use.”
Shell shoots for solar
Shell has been increasing its reach in the UK solar PV and energy storage markets. In October of last year, Shell was one of two companies to secure a power purchase agreement (PPA) for the Cleve Hill solar PV power plant. Shell will take and manage 35% of the power from the 373MW solar PV power plant, which also features a 150MW BESS, under a ten-year route to market agreement secured by investment firm Quinbrook Infrastructure Partners. Supermarket chain Tesco agreed a 15-year PPA for the remaining 65% of the energy from the development; this agreement was also facilitated by Quinbrook Infrastructure Partners.
Today (1 July), Quinbrook Infrastructure Partners announced that the Cleve Hill Solar Park is now fully commercially operational and exporting power at 100% of its export capacity. The Cleve Hill Solar Park is now the largest operational solar PV power plant in the UK, and is the first solar PV power plant to be granted consent under the Nationally Significant Infrastructure Project (NSIP) system, and is also the first solar NSIP to be awarded a Contract for Difference (CfD) in the fourth auction round (AR4), which took place in autumn 2022. In a webinar hosted by Solar Power Portal, Quinbrook’s director Rosalind Smith described taking on so many ‘firsts’ with Cleve Hill as “the experience of a lifetime”.
