Equinor has taken a final investment decision (FID) to construct the 25MW / 50MWh Blandford Road battery storage project in Dorset, the first commercial battery storage project of the Norwegian oil and gas company in the UK.

To be realized in partnership with flexible electricity generation developer Noriker Power, the Blandford Road project will be built in Dorset in southern England.

It will feature lithium-ion battery racks to be delivered by CATL.

The battery storage project in Dorset will be connected to the SSE distribution network to address power intermittency issues in the region.

Construction on the Blandford Road battery storage project is expected to begin in January next year, with an anticipated start of operations in the third quarter of the same year.

Olav Kolbeinstveit — senior vice president for power and markets within Renewables at Equinor, commenting on the Blandford Road battery storage project, said: “Equinor aims to create a profitable renewables business by integrating battery storage assets in our portfolio in selected power markets.

“During the last 10 months we invested in two leading battery storage development companies, Noriker Power in the UK, and East Point Energy in the US. Today we took the next step and sanctioned our first commercial battery storage project.”

Grupotec Renewable has secured the engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC) contract for the Blandford Road battery project. Noriker Power will manage and develop the project for Equinor.

Equinor acquired a 45% stake in Noriker Power in December 2021.

Commenting on the Blandford Road battery storage project and other such projects, Ingrid Fossgard-Moser — vice president for energy storage development within Renewables at Equinor, said: “Our ownership position in Noriker gives us a platform to build an energy storage portfolio in the UK.

“We expect to sanction up to three battery storage projects in the country during the next 6-9 months. A portfolio of flexible storage assets will broaden and diversify Equinor’s energy offerings in the UK and strengthen our role as a reliable supplier of energy.”

  Blandford Road project, CATL, Dorset, energy storage, England, Equinor, Grupotec Renewable, Ingrid Fossgard-Moser, Noriker Power, Olav Kolbeinstveit, United Kingdom