Spanish renewable energy platform Matrix Renewables has announced its entrance to the UK market with the acquisition of two standalone battery energy storage system (BESS) projects in Scotland.
Through a partnership with Green BESS Developments UK, part of Czech investment group Creditas, Matrix will take forward the development of the Eccles and Kilmarnock BESS assets which have a combined capacity of 1GW/2GWh.
The two sites are scheduled to be grid connected in 2027 and Matrix said it is currently in negotiation with an unnamed leading UK EPC provider and finalising the projects’ technical configuration, offtake strategy, and financing structure.
Managing director for Europe and Latin America at Matrix Renewables, Sergio Arbeláez, explained that entrance to the UK, which he called the “most advanced market in Europe for standalone battery storage”, aligns with the company’s investment strategy.
Matrix intends to develop over 2GW of additional generation and storage capacity in the UK over the next three years, seeing in excess of £1 billion invested in the country. Backed by global alternative asset manager TPG and its $27 billion (£20.9 billion) impact-investing platform, Matrix’s portfolio comprises 15.5GW solar, storage and green hydrogen projects in Europe, the US and Latin America.
Both the Eccles and Kilmarnock BESS projects are located along electricity transmission corridors between Scotland and England, which are currently very constrained.
When high amounts of wind generation in Scotland produces too much electricity to be transported to where it is needed in England, the storage sites, each with a 500MW capacity, will store electricity that would otherwise be wasted.
Intergen brought the BESS projects forward for planning before they, along with two other approved projects, the Gateway and New Deer battery sites, were sold to Green BESS Developments UK in 2023.
The Eccles Energy Centre was consented by the Scottish Energy Consents Unit (ECU) in December 2024, while the Kilmarnock Energy Centre was approved by the ECU just this week on 7 April.
The sale was part of Creditas Group’s acquisition of InterGen from parent company Sev.en Global Investments.
