Electric Land buys Uskmouth site for 120-MW battery in Wales

• Electric Land buys a site at Uskmouth, Wales, for a 120-MW, two-hour battery project developed by SAE, due online in 2026, boosting the site’s BESS capacity to 350 MW.

UK-based powered-land specialist Electric Land has acquired a site at the former Uskmouth coal power station in Newport, Wales, earmarked for a 120-MW, two-hour battery energy storage system (BESS) being developed by sustainable energy projects firm SAE. The deal marks Electric Land’s second BESS transaction at Uskmouth and its first since infrastructure investor Stonepeak became a shareholder in late July.

The newly acquired plot is leased to SAE, which earlier this month reached financial close on a 240-MWh slice of the broader Uskmouth programme. Construction timelines were not disclosed, but the 120-MW asset is slated to come online in 2026. Once operational, it will lift total connected BESS capacity at the Uskmouth Sustainable Energy Park to 350 MW, according to the companies, with scope to add a further 120 MW over the next 18 months as the site continues to be built out.

Uskmouth is among a growing cohort of UK coal-to-clean conversions, repurposing legacy grid connections and industrial land to accelerate deployment of flexible capacity. Large-scale batteries like Uskmouth’s are designed to stabilise the grid by absorbing excess wind and solar output and releasing it during peak demand, helping to reduce curtailment and reliance on gas-fired generation.

Electric Land’s model focuses on developing and aggregating freehold, grid-connected land parcels that are leased to ready-to-build operators for renewable generation and storage projects. As of the end of July, the company reported 1.1 GW across 29 owned “powered land” sites, alongside a 9-GW development pipeline spanning the UK, Ireland and Germany. The Stonepeak investment is expected to support faster roll-out and larger transactions as grid-ready sites become more competitive.

For SAE, the Uskmouth milestone adds momentum to its strategy of converting the former power station into a multi-technology sustainable energy park. With initial financing secured and further capacity in the queue, Uskmouth is positioned to become one of the UK’s more substantive battery hubs by mid-decade, contributing critical flexibility to a system aiming for higher shares of variable renewables.