Masdar has just completed its first battery energy storage (BESS) project in the UK following its 2022 acquisition of Arlington Energy. The UK’s Root Power has secured grid offer notifications for 942 MW across 13 BESS projects.
Emirati-headquartered multinational energy company Masdar will develop BESS projects with a combined capacity of 150 MW/300 MWh in Chesterfield and Cardiff, Wales, in the UK.
The company also confirmed that commercial operations have begun at its 20 MW/40 MWh BESS facility in Stockport. This is the first project to be completed by the Abu Dhabi-based company since it acquired Arlington Energy in 2022 as part of its ongoing investment in the UK’s energy storage market. Construction began on the Stockport project, located on a previously developed brownfield site, in 2024.
Overall, the company has committed to a GBP 1 billion investment, covering a 3 GWh pipeline of BESS projects.
“Today’s announcements demonstrate that we are accelerating progress towards delivering on our £1 billion pipeline ($1.3 billion),” said Husain Al Meer, Masdar Director, Global Offshore Wind & UK, commenting on the Stockport BESS and the plans for the Cardiff and Chesterfield BESS.
“BESS is critical to helping the UK to transform its energy systems, unlock more renewables deployment, and bring tangible benefits to consumers, businesses, and local communities. Masdar is proud to be at the forefront of this sector in the UK and beyond,” added Al Meer.
The Stockport BESS can store sufficient energy to power 20,000 homes for more than two hours, while the Chesterfield and Cardiff batteries will store enough electricity to power more than 35,000 homes for a day.
Like the Stockport BESS, the other two planned projects are to be on previously used sites. The Cardiff project is to be built on an industrial brownfield site, while the Chesterfield BESS will be on land previously used for coal mining.
The Stockport development made an effort to conserve local biodiversity during construction, with bird and bat boxes being provided to protect wildlife, the control of Japanese knotweed, common in the UK, and the planting of naturally occurring plants. It is also establishing a community fund to donate to local causes, Masdar said.
The company also confirmed that its UK projects include state-of-the-art fire detection and suppression systems, with 24-hour CCTV monitoring and local response capability. Masdar broke ground on its flagship Abu Dhabi solar-plus-storage project that will provide 1 GW of baseload power to the region, in October, and it has other big BESS facilities in Kazakhstan, Oman, Uzbekistan, and more.
Root Power takes root
Meanwhile, UK-based BESS owner-operator Root Power shared on LinkedIn that it has secured 942 MW of grid offer notifications with the National Energy Systems Operator to build and connect 13 projects ranging from standalone lithium-ion battery storage, long-duration energy storage, and solar-and-storage hybrid projects.
It currently has more than 167 MW of BESS in construction or at commissioning stage. Neil Brooks, Root Power’s Managing Director, said the offers showed the company’s “commitment to accelerating renewable and flexible energy projects across the UK.”
Founded in 2024, Root Power is a sister company of independent power generator YLEM Energy, which established its BESS development process in 2022.
Root Power claims it is on track to have in excess of 1 GW of projects in operation by 2031, and in an open letter to partners and stakeholders, Brooks wrote that the company’s fully-consented, ready-to-build portfolio of BESS projects exceeds 1 GW.
