The UK Infrastructure Bank plans to invest up to £265 million (US$331.45 million) in energy storage development in the UK, in partnership with British Gas owner Centrica Plc.
In a statement, Centrica said: “The Bank will invest £75 million on a match funding basis into the Gresham House Secure Income Renewable Energy & Storage LP (SIRES) alongside a £65 million investment from Centrica.”
Another part of the deal will see the UK Infrastructure Bank invest £125 million of match funding into Equitix UK Electricity Storage Fund.
Centrica said it was the Bank’s first investment in electricity storage, and “could facilitate around 1300 jobs and will unlock at least a further £200 million in match-funded private sector capital.”
The Equitix UK Electricity Storage Fund is a UK-based, infrastructure specialist asset manager, which will “focus on a combination of innovative business models across both short and long duration storage”, according to the UK Infrastructure Bank.
The Bank said that the fund would aim to deploy both short duration solutions like household and commercial battery storage systems, as well as long duration technologies like “pumped-hydro, a type of energy storage that uses water reservoirs at different elevations to generate and store electricity. The fund is expected to facilitate 900 jobs across the UK.”
The UK added the most battery storage of any European nation in 2022 according to consultancy LCP Delta,
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