Global clean energy enterprise TagEnergy’s Lakeside battery energy storage system (BESS) is now the largest transmission-connected such project in the UK following energisation.
The 100 MW/200 MWh facility, connected to National Grid’s Drax 132 kV substation in North Yorkshire, UK, became TagEnergy’s first transmission-connected BESS following successful completion of the commissioning programme by the project’s on-site team and National Grid engineers.
National Grid, working with its contractor Omexom, upgraded the Drax 132 kV substation to accommodate the additional power. Works included extending the busbars, upgrading busbar protection and substation control systems, and installing an operational tripping scheme.
The project is 100 per cent owned and operated by TagEnergy, with Tesla, Habitat Energy and RES as project partners.
Engineering procurement and construction (EPC) contractor Tesla provided a system of Tesla Megapack 2XL lithium-ion batteries. Habitat Energy partners as route to market and battery optimiser, with independent renewable energy company RES as asset manager.
Franck Woitiez, Chief Executive Officer, TagEnergy said: “For a while, Lakeside will be the largest transmission-connected BESS project in the UK, and it is an important project that truly moves the needle for the energy transition.”
TagEnergy acquired full ownership of the facility from RES in December 2021, commenced construction in August 2023 and achieved financial close with a landmark non-recourse debt package in October 2023.
Mark Brindley, portfolio director for northern regions at National Grid Electricity Transmission (NGET), said: “Battery storage technologies play an essential part in delivering a net zero energy system in Britain, so connecting Lakeside BESS to our transmission network is a key moment in the pursuit of those clean energy targets.
“Our Drax substation originally connected a coal plant in the seventies, and is now playing an important role in the energy transition – connecting not only the country’s biggest battery, but also its largest biomass power plant.”
