Renewable Power Capital enters UK battery storage market in Eelpower JV
1 March 2023Renewable Power Capital (RPC), the pan-European renewable energy investment platform backed by CPP Investments, has entered the battery storage market in Great Britain, working with Eelpower, the UK specialist battery storage company. The new joint venture will acquire, build and operate utility- scale storage projects and is targetting to build up to 1 GW of storage, with a current pipeline of 240 MW to be built over the next 24 months.
The RPC-Eelpower joint venture batteries will participate in wholesale electricity markets and provide ancillary services to National Grid. Battery storage projects are unsubsidised, underscoring the JV partners’ approach to investing in projects without government subsidy as a long-term project owner. It is the first investment by RPC in the UK and follows their recent acquisition of a 528 MW onshore wind portfolio in Sweden.
The agreement with RPC is Eelpower’s third joint venture in the GB storage market within two years. In January 2021, it entered a JV with SUSI Partners and in September 2021 it announced a JV with Next Energy Solar Fund, which was expanded in September 2022 and recently acquired the development rights for a 250 MW storage portfolio in the east of England.
Great Britain represents the largest utility scale battery storage market in Europe, with 1.7 GW installed by the end of 2021. Forecasts predict growth to 10 GW by 2030.