Fidra Energy has secured financial close for the Thorpe Marsh battery energy storage system (BESS) project in Doncaster, South Yorkshire, UK. The company has raised about £445 million in new equity from EIG and the National Wealth Fund (NWF), along with £594 million in loan facilities from various international lenders, namely ABN Amro, China Minsheng, CIBC, Deutsche Bank AG, Investec Bank, MUFG, Natwest, Nord LB, Santander CIB, Siemens Bank through Siemens Financial Services, SMBC, Societe Generale and Standard Chartered Bank.
With a total investment of nearly £1 billion, the standalone BESS project will have a capacity of 1,400 MW/3,100 MWh. Construction is set to begin immediately, with the project scheduled to begin operations in mid-2027. Once operational, it is expected to export more than 2 million MWh of electricity annually. Long-term offtake agreements have been signed with EDF, Octopus Energy, and Statkraft, covering around 80 per cent of the project’s capacity.
Fidra Energy’s main contracting partners for the project include Sungrow for supplying its Power Titan 2.0 batteries, H&MV Engineering for grid connection, electrical and mechanical works, and commissioning of the battery systems, and Jones Bros. Civil Engineering for the civil and drainage work at the project site. In March 2025, the project also received a fifteen-year capacity market award from the UK Government, starting in October 2028. Additionally, funding from EIG and the NWF will also support Fidra’s wider pipeline, including the 500 MW/1,100 MWh West Burton BESS project in Nottinghamshire.
