Work begins on Tesla-powered battery storage plant near Perth following funding deal

Construction has begun on a battery storage facility in Perthshire following a funding deal worth more than £12 million.

The Jamesfield development near Abernethy is a joint venture involving TagEnergy and Harmony Energy, following the former’s acquisition of a 60 per cent stake in the project in November 2021. Santander UK is supporting the green energy initiative with £12.5m in funding. Jamesfield will use a system of Tesla “megapack” lithium-ion batteries and is expected to be operational in the final quarter of 2023, with renewable energy company RES as asset manager.

Franck Woitiez, chief executive of TagEnergy, said commencement of construction of the firm’s third battery energy storage facility in the UK reinforced its commitment to driving the shift to a clean energy future.

“This is another important milestone in TagEnergy’s growth in the UK as we leverage our strong storage expertise to support the UK grid and propel the nation to net-zero carbon emissions by connecting more competitive renewable power,” Woitiez said. “We are excited to enter this next phase in the project in partnership with Harmony Energy and with the support of Santander UK as we grow our UK footprint to accelerate the energy transition.”

Mark Cumbo, director, specialised and project finance at Santander UK, said: “[This project] marks an important contribution to the UK’s ability to produce a reliable flow of electricity from renewable sources. It follows the funding we provided TagEnergy in 2021 to support Hawkers Hill Energy Park in Dorset, and to TagEnergy and Harmony Energy in 2022 for Chapel Farm near Luton. Santander UK strongly supports clients such as TagEnergy and Harmony Energy that are bringing additional capacity to enable greater contribution from renewables to the UK’s energy sector.”

Peter Kavanagh, chief executive of Harmony Energy, added: “We have been working on this site for over four years and are delighted to be progressing to this next stage with TagEnergy, following our partnership which was announced in 2021. Securing debt funding from Santander UK demonstrates a growing appetite from institutions to support battery developments and we look forward to working with it.”

Jamesfield is the third TagEnergy investment in battery storage facilities in the UK to reach financial close following its entry into the UK market in 2021. Commissioning of its first project, Hawkers Hill Energy Park, took place last September and construction of its second project, Chapel Farm, started in February 2022. Jamesfield, Chapel Farm and Hawkers Hill, together with previously announced projects, Roaring Hill in Fife, Lakeside in North Yorkshire and more recently, Pitkevy in Scotland, take TagEnergy’s secured portfolio in the UK to date to some 320 megawatts (MW).

TagEnergy partnered with Balance Power in October 2022 to build, own, and operate 500MW of Balance Power’s renewable energy pipeline requiring an investment of more than £300m over the next four years. TagEnergy is controlled by the Impala SAS Group, supported by major investors Mirova and Omnes, and is operated by a team of entrepreneurs, all shareholders. Its operations span the renewables value chain.