International energy company Centrica has secured the development rights to a battery farm in Perthshire, Scotland.

Centrica, the parent company of British Gas in the UK and Bord Gais in Ireland, secured the development rights to the battery storage plant through its subsidiary Centrica Business Solutions. The plant will have a 65MW capacity. It is the largest battery storage project the company has acquired.

The plant’s 65MW will be able to power up to 130,000 homes for an hour. Centrica’s aim is to use the plant  to manage grid capacity by discharging during periods of high demand and charging when demand is low.

Gregory McKenna, the managing director of Centrica Business Solutions, stated: “If the country wants to achieve a reliable, secure and decarbonised power system, then battery storage sites must be the rule rather than the exception. Storing energy at times of surplus to keep the lights on during times of peak demand will be key to delivering on these ambitious targets.”

The plant is not set to begin connection to the grid until 2028. McKenna continued: “However, the five-year wait for a connection date shines a light on the challenges renewable energy projects like this continue to face with the grid being totally constrained. To keep the net-zero transition on track, it is important that we work to speed up grid connections and avoid further delays to new and existing projects.”

The plant is part of Centrica’s plan to create 1GW of “low-carbon energy assets”, including a similar 30MW battery plant in Aberdeenshire set to begin operation in 2024. The company also announced its first battery storage project outside the UK with an upcoming 24MW project in Belgium.

The facility in Ostend, announced in May 2023, has a similar aim to the Perthshire project, balancing out scarcity and excess in energy demand with renewable energy.