Energy storage pioneer Highview has successfully raised £130 million in funding to commence work on a new, hybrid long-duration energy storage (LDES) solution at Hunterston in North Ayrshire.

The investment round saw a significant contribution of £45 million from the Scottish National Investment Bank (the Bank), alongside funding from Centrica, Goldman Sachs, KIRKBI, and Mosaic Capital.

The Hunterston facility is strategically located to address grid intermittency and wind energy curtailment in southwest Scotland.

The funding specifically supports the first of two development phases:

Phase One: Stability Island

• This initial asset will be designed to provide critical system support to the grid, including inertia, short circuit, and voltage support.

-- Advertisement --

• It will operate independently of the energy storage elements and is vital for increasing the amount of renewable energy that can be transmitted from Scotland to areas of high demand.

• The stability island is expected to be complete and operational by January 2028.

Phase Two: Hybrid LDES System (3.2GWh)

• This phase will integrate liquid air energy storage with lithium-ion batteries for enhanced operational performance.

• The full facility, which will be capable of sending more power to the grid for longer and incorporate a cutting-edge grid analytics function, is expected to be operational by 2030.

Mark Munro, Chief Investment Officer at the Bank, noted that the investment is critical: "Strengthening grid resilience is critical to ensuring that more of the clean energy we produce can be efficiently utilised."

The project, located at Peel Ports at Hunterston, aligns with the Bank’s net-zero and inclusive transition missions. It is expected to support 1,000 onsite jobs during construction and 650 jobs in the supply chain during the build-out of all phases. The project recently received validation by being confirmed as eligible for Ofgem's Cap and Floor support scheme for LDES, which helps guarantee a stable financial framework.