Global clean energy enterprise TagEnergy’s first UK battery storage facility has commenced operations following completion of construction at the 20MW/40MWh Hawkers Hill Energy Park near Shaftesbury in Dorset, England.

The milestone makes Hawkers Hill the first TagEnergy renewable energy project to go online from among its growing portfolio of more than 3GW in five countries – the UK, Spain, Portugal, France and Australia.

The first MWh from the new-build project has just been exported to the grid, a year after TagEnergy and project partner Tesla commenced construction of the £16m facility in September 2021. The project’s development was supported by a £6.4m funding package from another partner, Santander UK.

The two hours front of meter Hawkers Hill facility uses a system of Tesla Megapack lithium-ion batteries, together with Tesla’s Autobidder AI software for real-time trading and control.

The timely completion will support the UK grid and enable greater penetration of renewable energy into homes and businesses as demand for energy increases over the coming winter months.

Franck Woitiez, Chief Executive Officer, TagEnergy said: “Hawkers Hill Energy Park was the first investment we announced when we entered the UK market in 2021. Its completion is a key milestone in the advancement of our strategy to accelerate the energy transition in the UK renewables market.”
“Flexible technology systems like Hawkers Hill Energy Park’s battery storage will play an increasingly important role in boosting the UK’s ability to capture, store and release renewable energy for a more reliable and regular supply. We are proud to be delivering clean power to support the national grid at this critical time and will continue to leverage our battery storage expertise and flexible supply to optimise the market, help stabilise the grid and increase renewables’ share of it.”

Earlier this year, TagEnergy announced an asset management agreement with RES, a world leader in energy storage, to oversee operations at Hawkers Hill Energy Park and support TagEnergy to deliver flexible, low-cost electricity for consumers.

TagEnergy is a clean energy enterprise for a new era in the renewable energy industry. It was formed in 2019 to accelerate the energy transition through creating competitive, clean power stations. The business is majority owned by French businessman Jacques Veyrat’s Impala SAS group. It is supported by major investors Mirova and Omnes, and operated by a team of manager-shareholders. Its operations span the renewables value chain, from development, financing, construction and asset management of wind, solar and storage projects, to commercialisation of its competitive energy. TagEnergy has developed a portfolio of more than 3GW in the UK, Portugal, Spain, France and Australia, based on solar, wind and battery storage technologies.