Innova secures approval for 2 GWh British battery

London-based renewables developer Innova has received planning approval for its Almholme Energy Hub project, which will feature one of the UK’s largest battery energy storage systems.
The project located at Almholme, Doncaster, features 1025 MW/2050 MWh battery energy storage facility collocated with a 49.9 MW solar farm.
The development site covers approximately 173 acres across three open agricultural parcels of land. The site has been designed to incorporate a range of biodiversity enhancements that are well in excess of the mandatory 10% requirement, according to the project proponents.
A community benefit fund is being established to support local incentives throughout the project’s life span. Once operational, the project will generate enough energy to power over 15,000 homes annually and store energy for 37,000 homes for a week, according to the project proponents.
“This state-of-the-art facility will provide much-needed energy storage capacity, ensuring that renewable energy sources such as wind and solar are effectively harnessed and distributed,” said Rob Parish, senior project manager at Innova. “It will help the UK achieve its clean energy goals, accelerating the transition to renewable power and ensuring a more resilient, sustainable, and affordable energy system for generations to come.”
The UK’s largest battery storage project to date is the 1.45 GW/ 3.3 GWh Thorpe Marsh in South Yorkshire developed by Fidra Energy. The project is located on land adjacent to a former coal station site and large National Grid substation and is slated to break ground in 2025. In November 2024, Sungrow confirmed it will supply its 5 MWh PowerTitan 2.0 liquid-cooled energy storage systems to the project.