EDF announces agreement for battery optimisation with Eelpower

Eelpower, one of the pioneer investors and operators of large-scale commercial energy storage assets in the UK, have selected EDF as their next trading and optimisation partner. The partnership will involve the trading and optimisation of three grid-scale battery projects located in the UK, totalling 80MW, and reinforces EDF’s commitment to helping Britain achieve Net Zero.

EDF’s specialist teams will be responsible for managing the trading and optimisation strategy for three UK-based batteries managed by Eelpower over a period of seven years. Majority ownership of the assets lies with Swiss fund manager SUSI Partners’ Energy Storage Fund while the remaining stake is owned by Eelpower itself. The two companies announced a broader partnership for the development of battery storage assets across the UK in January 2021.

Utilising EDF’s market leading trading platform, Powershift, the deal will see EDF, working alongside Eelpower’s technology partner Upside Energy, open revenue streams for these assets, including ancillary services, balancing mechanism and wholesale optimisation. The agreement will also provide bankable reassurance through the delivery of a floor price, ensuring minimum income levels are guaranteed, which has been a key element for the investors.

Stuart Fenner, Head of Energy Trading Services at EDF, said: “We are really pleased that Eelpower has chosen to partner with EDF on the trading and optimisation for a number of its battery storage projects.  Partnerships with early innovators such as Eelpower, are testament to our highly skilled teams and the work that has been put into building our track record for first class trading and optimisation services.  As a leading battery optimisation services provider, we look forward to supporting Eelpower in delivering maximum value whilst managing investment risks.  The combination of our trading expertise and ability to provide an attractive price floor brings a unique offering to the battery storage marketplace.”

Mark Simon, Eelpower CEO, said: “EDF has a great track record for generating revenue through wholesale trading and optimisation.  The EDF team has been a genuine innovator in the delivery of market-leading optimisation services and we have undertaken a detailed contestable procurement before selecting them.”  

About EDF

EDF is helping Britain achieve Net Zero by leading the transition to a cleaner, low emission electric future and tackling climate change. We are Britain’s biggest generator of zero carbon electricity, meeting around one-fifth of the country’s demand and supplying millions of customers with electricity and gas.

With around 5 million accounts, EDF is one of the largest suppliers to British homes and businesses and a leading supplier of innovative energy solutions that are helping businesses become more energy independent. All of our home customers get energy tariffs backed by zero carbon electricity as standard.

We generate low carbon electricity from eight nuclear power stations, more than thirty onshore wind farms and two offshore wind farms, and operate one of Britain’s biggest battery storage units, one gas and one coal power station, thousands of EV charge-points, and combined heat and power plants. Wind, nuclear and solar all produce electricity that is zero carbon at the point of generation and have similar emissions over the build, run and retire lifecycles.

EDF is one of the UK’s largest investors in renewables, with 1GW of renewable generation in operation and over 4GW in construction, planning and development across a range of technologies including onshore and offshore wind, solar and battery storage. We are constructing our largest offshore wind farm in Britain – the 450 MW Neart na Gaoithe project in Scotland which will be ready in 2023.

EDF is part of EDF Group, the world’s biggest electricity generator. In the UK we employ around 13,000 people.

Contact: EDF Media Team +44 (0)1452 652233/media@edfenergy.com

About Eelpower (www.eelpower.co.uk)

Eelpower, founded in 2016, is a privately held, well-established constructor-owner-operator in the new and rapidly growing electricity storage market.   Eelpower's management team and investors previously built the largest hydropower sites in England this century where they pioneered behind-the-meter battery storage integrated with hydro generation and industrial consumers.  Since launch, Eelpower has generated among the highest revenues per MW of all storage operators in UK.

In January 2021, Eelpower and SUSI announced its joint venture to construct and operate a pipeline of new build battery storage assets in the UK.

Contact:

Mark Simon: 07968 164171 / mark.simon@eelpower.co.uk

Paul Taylor, Taylor Keogh Communications: 07966 782611 / paul@taylorkeogh.com