Gresham House inks deal to optimise 74MW of storage capacity

UK-based grid battery owner Gresham House has agreed to a multi-year deal with Habitat Energy to optimise 74MW of energy storage capacity, which will see machine learning applied to maximise the value of the assets and extend their lifespan.


Gresham House inks deal to optimise 74MW of storage capacity

Gresham House's recently acquired 49MW Red Scar battery is to be optimised against the wholesale markets. Image: Gresham House

The deal sees Habitat Energy agree to optimise 74MW of Energy Storage System (ESS) projects in the UK, owned by the Gresham House Energy Storage Fund. Habitat Energy’s PowerIQ system will be applied to three projects to use algorithms and machine learning approaches to manage storage asset value across wholesale markets. Habitat Energy will also manage the degradation of the assets in a bid to extend their lifespan.

Gresham House Energy Storage Fund’s manager and director of new energy at Gresham House Asset Management Ben Guest said: “We are proud to have selected Habitat Energy for the optimization of these projects. We have been impressed by Habitat’s team, trading acumen and algorithmic trading approach giving us real confidence that they can achieve help us achieve our target revenues for these projects.”

The three projects covered by the multi-year deal are a 20MW energy storage system in Wiltshire, a 5MW system in Wolverhampton and a 49MW project on the Red Scar Business Park outside of Preston, which was acquired by Gresham House on 31 December 2019.

Habitat Energy’s chief executive Andrew Luers said: “We are delighted to be working in conjunction with the Gresham House Energy Storage Fund and their Manager, Gresham House Asset Management, in order to accelerate the deployment of much-needed flexible power assets onto Great Britain’s electricity network.

“Our aim is to provide unique insight for a unique asset class and add value in the short- and long-term for our clients. We share Gresham’s enthusiasm and sense of purpose for the opportunities available in the next few years.”

Energy evolved

The announcement comes days after the developers of what purports to be the UK’s first “smart” commercial campus have signed a 50-year deal with E.ON, that will see the utility giant develop, test and scale-up clean energy solutions in the west country.

Developer and landowner This is Gravity Ltd will source 100% renewable electricity from E.ON to power all operations across the 635-acre Gravity campus, which is under construction in Bridgwater. E.ON will help the Gravity team to develop an alternative to standard energy models for the site. The firms will work to develop, test and scale-up on-site solutions such as renewable electricity generation and storage arrays; low-carbon heat networks and energy-efficient cooling systems.

BloombergNEF’s (BNEF) New Energy Storage Outlook report outlines that energy storage installations are poised for a 122-fold increase between now and 2040, as the uptake of renewable energy and electric vehicles (EVs) and falling costs of technology provide an ideal platform to drive demand for storage solutions.

Matt Mace

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