Eku Energy has acquired the Didcot battery storage project in Oxfordshire, a planned 300 MW / 600 MWh transmission-connected installation that will be the company's first such project in the UK. Construction is due to begin later this year, with grid connection scheduled for 2028.
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The project was acquired from London-based TBC Partners and will connect to the National Grid via an underground cable to the Didcot substation south-west of the site. National Grid completed upgrades to the 400 kV substation last year, adding three new equipment bays and three supergrid transformers to support transmission-connected assets including battery storage and data centres. The substation sits two miles from the UK's first designated AI Growth Zone at Culham, also in Oxfordshire.
Didcot a first but not a test
Although Didcot marks Eku Energy's first transmission-connected project in the UK, the company has other experience with comparable high-voltage assets elsewhere, including the 200 MW / 400 MWh Rangebank battery project near Melbourne. Eku Energy develops, builds and operates storage projects across the UK, Germany, Italy, Japan, Australia and New Zealand, and is jointly owned by a Macquarie Asset Management-managed fund and British Columbia Investment Management Corporation.
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"Battery storage is an essential part of the UK's energy infrastructure," says Erin Lee, CFO of Eku Energy. "Sites like Didcot play an integral role in moving the UK towards an electrified, low-carbon energy system.“ (TF)
