Following DIF Capital Partners' (DIF) acquisition of the UK's largest portfolio of co-located Battery Energy Storage System (BESS) and solar PV assets, Natural Power is providing owners engineer support for the BESS equipment procurement and construction management for the first two sites in the portfolio to have commenced construction.

The wider portfolio consists of seven sites with a total capacity of 720MW, understood to be the largest co-located portfolio of solar and battery storage in the UK. DIF Capital Partners, together with ib vogt, recently agreed the acquisition of a 100% interest in this greenfield portfolio from EGHL, and it is the first of its kind to be connected to the National Grid's transmission network.

Ralph Spernagel, Construction Director at Natural Power, said: "This project marks a huge milestone in the advancement of the UK's renewable energy infrastructure, and we're proud to be involved in such a high-profile development. For this first-of-a-kind project, we're dealing with both distribution and transmission level stakeholders at a national level, handling an extra layer of complexity, but we're paving the way for future successes and the expansion of more hybrid sites that are essential for achieving our renewable energy targets in the years ahead."

During the procurement phase, Natural Power supported the procurement exercise across the areas of project design viability, equipment specification and pricing, on behalf of DIF, for the battery supply and balance of plant contracts. Natural Power also supported with technical advice in the procurement of the gridworks, the solar PV works, solar EYAs as well as stakeholder management.

The first two projects have already started construction and are expected to reach commercial operation in Q4 this year; it is expected that all projects of the portfolio will be operational between 2023 and 2025.

Developing a resilient energy system that meets the demand of our ever-growing energy needs, requires adding battery storage systems into the electricity grid - enabling the storage and discharge of electricity to support the grid's requirements. If you want to develop, finance, build or operate a storage project, Natural Power can help ensure that it has the best possible chance of success. Find out more here www.naturalpower.com/uk/expertise/sector/grid-storage-and-infrastructure