Renewable energy-focused Field snaps up battery storage sites in South Ayrshire and Moray from Res

Energy storage systems in South Ayshire and Moray change hands as part of bid to power up relevant infrastructure.

A renewable energy infrastructure company has snapped up two Scottish energy storage systems – saying this is part of a move to boost its own capacity but also help lower bills, boosting the security of energy supply, and providing a much-needed upgrade of infrastructure to accelerate Scotland’s journey to net zero.

Field has snapped up Holmston and Drum Farm, located in Ayr and Keith respectively and with a combined capacity of 100 megawatts (MW)/200 MW hours, from Res, which says it is the world’s largest independent renewable energy company, and whose office network includes Glasgow. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Additionally, Field says both assets, once operational, will contribute a range of services to the grid, including balancing electricity supply and demand, contributing to the UK’s efforts to decarbonise power supply, and bolstering the latter’s security by helping use more renewable energy.

Field says its batteries are able to provide ‘firm’, back-up power during periods of lower renewable generation. Picture: contributed.

The business, which also supports Highland Renewables, hailed Scotland as the UK’s largest renewables-producing country, but said it currently lacks the transmission network infrastructure required to transport surplus green power to areas of demand. “Building more batteries to store excess supplies can connect electricity generated by renewables with consumers more efficiently,” it explained.

Field says Holmston and Drum Farm will help plug this gap, and it cited a report from Carbon Tracker showing that Britain wasted enough wind generation last year to power a million homes because of congestion and lack of flexibility in the grid, “something that battery storage will help to solve, ultimately helping to lower energy bills and increase energy security”.

The firm, whose first battery storage site, in Oldham (20MWh), started operating in 2022, plans to bring a further 410MWh of battery sites online over the next two years, now including this acquisition, and has more than 4.5 gigawatt hours of projects in development or in exclusivity with partners.

Katie Marsh, head of corporate development at Field, hailed the firm adding Field Holmston and Field Drum Farm to a “healthy” pipeline of renewable infrastructure projects. “With vital grid reforms picking up pace, we will start to see more storage projects connected to the network to support the transition to a net-zero electricity system. Energy storage is an essential part of this picture, especially in Scotland where so much cheaper, cleaner energy-generation is curtailed each year. To take full advantage of the renewable capacity we have available, and achieve net-zero emissions in Scotland by 2045, we must invest in battery storage as part of the biggest transformation of infrastructure ever seen.”

Rebecca Meek, development director, energy storage, for the UK and Ireland at Res, said: “To ensure consumers get the maximum benefit from the low-cost renewable energy being generated in the UK, we need to deploy energy storage capacity, at pace, across our country. Holmston and Drum Farm are great examples of the dynamic energy sector we’re creating together to support our economy and the environment. We’re pleased to partner with Field for the first time, a company who share this vision, and look forward to seeing these projects operating for the benefit of consumers in the near future.” Separately, plans were unveiled in October for a vast battery storage project in West Lothian.