Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners, an investment firm specialising in renewables, has announced an £800 million funding deal for two battery storage facilities in Scotland.

The Danish company, which has raised €25 billion raised for international projects, is backing an additional battery energy storage plant at an existing site in Lanarkshire and a second in Kincardine, Fife.

An existing plan on a former opencast coal mine site west of the M74, known as Coalburn 1, will be supplemented by Coalburn 2, another battery park on the eastern side of the motorway.

Coalburn 2 and Devilla in Fife are both scheduled to start construction in 2027 and are expected to displace approximately 4.57 million metric tons of CO₂ emissions during their 35 year lifespan.

The project is being developed by E-Storage, a subsidiary of Canadian Solar, one of the world’s largest solar technology and renewable energy companies. The batteries are manufactured in China.

Following the latest deal, Scotland will become host to the three largest battery energy storage systems in Europe, capable of supplying 4.5m households for two hours.

Battery energy storage systems (BESS) can charge when electricity prices are low and discharge during peak periods of demand, provide flexibility to the grid. 

CIP is the world’s largest dedicated fund manager in greenfield renewable energy investments and a global leader in offshore wind. It has offices around the world but no permanent presence in Scotland.

First Minister John Swinney will visit the site of the battery project in South Lanarkshire along with Net Zero Gillian Martin. He said it is the type of investment which reflects the confidence of investors and the country’s potential as an energy-rich nation.

He said that the government’s budget is designed to maximise Scotland’s potential as an energy leader by developing key ports and infrastructure and growing the manufacturing supply chain.

“That money will deliver a green re-industrialisation of our economy and attract investment in industries that will power our economic future,” he said.

“This is an exciting time for investment in Scotland in a range of key sectors and I look forward to celebrating a significant new investment in our energy transition infrastructure, and making the most of our economic and energy potential to benefit generations to come.”

Among several BESS projects in Scotland is one by BayWa r.e with a capacity of up to 500 MW on land 3km south-east of Douglas in South Lanarkshire. It would have a capacity of over 50MW and an application is due early this year.

Zenobe is on track to deliver 1.2GW of battery power, which will make it one of the largest owners and operators of battery storage in the UK.

It is investing £750m into the Scottish electricity transmission network with sites in South Lanarkshire that will save more than 1 billion tonnes of CO_2, over their 15 years of operation.