KKR's ContourGlobal enters Britain with large battery storage project

By Francesca Landini

MILAN, June 24 (Reuters) - Independent power producer ContourGlobal has acquired a large battery storage project in Scotland from New Energy Partnership Limited, making its foray into the British energy market, its chief executive said.

The group, fully owned by U.S. fund KKR, is expected to invest hundreds of millions of pounds into the project it plans to develop over the next two years.

"It will be one of the largest battery storages under development in the country," ContourGlobal CEO Antonello Cammisecra said, speaking to Reuters.

The move comes after British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said on Monday he would quit, paving the way for a transfer of power to frontrunner Andy Burnham.

Despite this change, ContourGlobal considers the country as an attractive market and plans to go ahead with other projects.  

"Our ambition is to make Britain the third country in terms of growth after the United States and Chile," Cammisecra said.

Britain has a stable regulatory framework, which offers interesting growth opportunities and the possibility to earn money by selling several services offered by storage assets, according to the executive.

"Britain is supporting the energy transition without hesitation... I do not believe there can be any reconsideration on battery storage."    

PROMISING SOLUTION FOR DATA CENTRES

Once completed, the project located in Ayr, on the southwest coast of Scotland, will have 500 megawatt of power capacity and 2 GWh (gigawatt hours) of energy storage capacity, equivalent to four hours of continuous discharge.

"It will be in a very interesting location for the further development of offshore wind energy and also, potentially, for the development of data centres," Cammisecra said.

Battery storage systems, which absorb power when supply is abundant and discharge it back to the grid ‌when needed, have been increasingly deployed in renewable-heavy areas, where they help meet demand when supplies from wind and sun wane.

They are also emerging as a promising solution for data centers to smooth electricity demand.

ContourGlobal plans to take the final investment decision on the development of this project before the end of this year and expects to have it completed by the end of 2028 or early 2029. 

The group, founded in 2005 and listed in London in 2017, was acquired by KKR in 2022 in a deal worth £1.75 billion.

Cammisecra, a former top executive of Italy's biggest utility Enel, has accelerated the group's transformation to a predominantly renewable producer and reshuffled its geographic footprint.

(Reporting by Francesca LandiniEditing by Keith Weir)