A battery energy storage system (BESS) in the United Kingdom has powered on to become the country’s largest transmission-connected BESS project, as backed by Tesla’s Megapack 2XL units.
The Lakeside battery project, a 100MW/200MWh Megapack facility in North Yorkshire, England, was officially powered on on Monday, according to a press release from operator TagEnergy. The project is 100-percent owned and operated by TagEnergy, in partnership with Tesla, Habitat Energy, and RES, and it successfully reported completing a commissioning switching program between on-site workers and engineers with the National Grid.
“For a while, Lakeside will be the largest transmission-connected BESS project in the UK, and it is an important project that truly moves the needle for the energy transition,” said Franck Woitiez, CEO of TagEnergy. “We’re proud to have delivered the project efficiently, energised and connected onto National Grid’s transmission network without significant delays or operating issues. That is exactly what is needed to speed the transition.”
The site is located in the village of Drax in Northeast England, The facility will also utilize Tesla’s Autobidder AI software to manage buying and selling electricity at optimal times for demand and cost.
Tesla has been rolling out its Megapack grid-scale batteries in increasing volumes over the last few years, and the company recently surpassed its total battery deployments for 2023 with all of Q4 still remaining this year. The company’s energy arm has also been becoming the company’s highest-margin business in recent quarters, with Q3 representing Tesla Energy’s second-strongest quarter to date with 6.9GWh of storage deployed.
In addition to the Lakeside battery, Tesla operates other sites in the UK in partnership with TagEnergy, including a 49MW/98MWh project near Abernathy, Scotland. In June, a new BESS project was also announced at the Ørsted’s Hornsea 3 Offshore Wind Farm in Eastern England, set to sport 600MWh of Megapacks.
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