A deal worth £800 million has been signed for the creation of Europe’s largest battery storage projects in Scotland.

Investment fund manager Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners (CIP) announced the construction of the two new sites, including Coalburn 2 situated in South Lanarkshire and the Devilla project in Fife, adding to the one already under construction in Coalburn, South Lanarkshire.

Together, the three sites will have a total power capacity of 1.5GW, able to store and supply the grid with a total of 3GWh of electricity, equivalent to the electricity demand of over 4.5 million households, across a 2-hour period.

“The construction of the two largest battery systems in Europe, in South Lanarkshire and Fife, delivered by international investment, is to be welcomed as a significant contribution to the growth of Scotland’s energy transition infrastructure,” said first minister, John Swinney.

“By helping to supply reliable and secure power to our homes and businesses, well-located storage systems, such as batteries and pumped hydro storage, can move us closer to net zero and directly support the communities around them.” 

The new facilities will house a number of enclosures with lithium-iron-phosphate battery packs, set to be supplied by battery technology provider Canadian Solar, with the sites due to come online in 2027-28.

CIP’s announcement comes just one year after the investment manager initiated work on the first South Lanarkshire project, with the company now becoming the largest battery storage investor in the UK.

The firm now claims that it has seven battery energy storage projects under development across the country, with 4.3 GW in expected total energy storage capacity. 

According to the National Energy System Operator’s Future Energy Scenarios report, released last year, the UK currently has 4.7 GW of operational battery storage capacity, expected to rise to 28 GW by 2030 as the UK and devolved governments push for more solutions to reaching net-zero. 

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Nischal Agarwal, partner at Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners, said: “CIP’s latest investments in Scottish battery energy storage will support the UK’s pursuit of a clean power system by 2030 and delivering a net zero carbon economy by 2050.

“Battery storage which is well located, like our Coalburn and Devilla projects, enhances energy security, provides the grid with much needed flexibility and enables low cost renewables to be deployed faster.”

Last year saw a flurry of activity in the battery storage sector in Scotland, with a number of new projects beginning life, including a £130 million, 200-megawatt battery storage park in Bathgate, proposals for an expansive solar farm and two battery storage facilities in Aberdeen, and  construction starting on the £9 million ETZ EnergyWorks site which will include battery storage facilities for firms looking to develop and scale.