Macquarie’s Green Investment Group (GIG) has acquired a ‘utility scale’ portfolio of development-stage distribution-connected battery storage from Capbal.
The organisations will initially partner to deliver seven projects totaling 187MWh and strategically located in highly congested areas of the UK network, including Scotland and South East England. Construction is expected to commence on the first projects this year. As well as these late-stage development projects, the companies will grow the portfolio by the acquisition and development.
The projects will provide a number of grid services, including frequency response, and will participate in the Balancing Mechanism.
Edward Northam, head of GIG in the UK and Europe, said “Our success in creating a flexible, low-carbon energy system is inextricably linked to our success in delivering energy storage at scale. GIG’s partnership with Capbal is an exciting first step for us in this market, and we look forward to creating even more opportunities to accelerate the deployment of this critical technology.”
David Fyffe, founder and MD of Capbal, said, “Battery storage’s time has come.” He added, “Although it has taken time for the battery storage sector to mature, scale and speed to market are now vital”.
GIG was launched by the government in 2012 as the Green Investment Bank. It was acquired by Macquarie in 2017.  
Capbal is a battery storage development and delivery platform founded in 2015. It has originated and developed over 200MW of DNO-connected, front of meter battery storage projects across the UK, which are close to construction-ready, and a pipeline of earlier stage project opportunities.