RPC and Eelpower form joint venture to build 1GW of batteries

Renewable Power Capital (RPC) and Eelpower have formed a joint venture to acquire, build and operate a 1GW of portfolio of grid-scale batteries in Great Britain.

The move marks RPC’s first investment in the UK since being formed in 2020. The London-based firm, which is backed by the Canadian pension fund manager CPP Investments, has so far committed to acquire nearly €1.5 billion of renewable projects across Europe, including solar farms in Spain and onshore wind farms in Sweden and Finland.

The joint venture with British solar and storage developer Eelpower will initially seek to establish a 240MW pipeline of battery storage projects that will participate in the wholesale electricity market and sell ancillary services to National Grid Electricity System Operator.

RPC chief executive Bob Psaradellis said: “Battery storage will play a key role in decarbonising the grid and balancing intermittent renewable generation. The flexibility it provides will be central to building a twenty-first century grid.

“The GB market has real momentum behind it and presents one of the best opportunities in Europe. We are pleased to be working with Eelpower to enter this market.”

Mark Simon, chief executive of Eelpower, said: “Eelpower was founded to make the transition to renewable energy sustainable, through the creation of a platform of grid-scale electricity storage assets.  We are therefore delighted to be working with RPC to ensure that our joint venture leads the battery storage market in terms of scale, quality of assets and speed deployment.”

Earlier this month, Zenobe announced it has begun building a series of three giant battery storage facilities across Scotland with a combined capacity of 1GW/2GWh to provide stability services to the power grid.