RPC, Greenfield Win Approval for Vale of Glamorgan Battery Storage

• Planning consent clears the way for a 49.9-MW battery near Cardiff, the third UK project in RPC and Greenfield’s 500-MW pipeline.

Renewable Power Capital (RPC) and its development partner Greenfield have secured planning permission for a 49.9-MW battery energy-storage system (BESS) in the Vale of Glamorgan, a short drive west of Cardiff. The decision, confirmed on Monday, lifts the pair’s consented UK storage portfolio to three projects totaling 112.7 MW and moves them a step closer to their goal of originating 500 MW of grid-scale capacity across Great Britain. 

The Welsh installation will sit just under Britain’s 50-MW threshold for “nationally significant” infrastructure, allowing it to proceed through the faster local-authority route. Once built, it will provide up to two hours of flexible power—enough to meet the evening peak demand of roughly 80,000 homes—by absorbing surplus wind and solar generation and releasing it when the grid tightens. RPC says batteries of this size can earn revenue from frequency-response services and wholesale price arbitrage while supporting Westminster’s pledge to fully decarbonise the electricity system by 2030. 

Construction is expected to take six to twelve months, with commissioning pencilled in for 2030, a date aligned with the local distribution-network operator’s connection queue. Project engineers will adopt a “biodiversity-positive” layout that extends existing hedgerows and plants 4,560 m² of species-rich grassland—an approach the partners say will leave the rural plot more ecologically diverse than before. 

“This consent is another timely contribution to Britain’s drive for a flexible, low-carbon grid,” said Cyrille Sokpor, RPC’s senior vice-president for UK and Poland development. David Ring, managing director at Greenfield, added that the approval “underscores our commitment to pairing clean-energy infrastructure with environmental stewardship.”

The Vale of Glamorgan project follows earlier wins at Steventon in Oxfordshire and Tredington in Gloucestershire, both green-lighted in 2024. RPC—backed by Canadian pension fund CPP Investments—has expanded its storage pipeline to more than 5.5 GW across the UK, Italy and Finland since launching its battery strategy two years ago. Greenfield, a London-based specialist developer, continues to originate sites that keep each project just below the 50-MW ceiling, a tactic that shortens permitting timelines and spreads risk across multiple grid zones.

If the Welsh battery is delivered on schedule, it will arrive just as Britain’s share of renewable electricity routinely tops 60 percent—providing a much-needed buffer that helps prevent curtailment on windy nights and blackouts on still, cloudy evenings.