In this week’s Charging Forward, Gore Street, Eku and BW ESS reach energisation at UK battery energy storage system (BESS) projects, amid warnings over an oversubscribed grid connection queue. This week’s headlines: Root-Power secures planning consent for 40 MW Rotherham BESS Sungrow and BW ESS Bramley Project begins operations Warnings over UK grid connection queue Invinity and Frontier Power partner on UK long duration energy storage projects Fire at Statera BESS site in Essex brought under control Gore Street energises UK Enderby BESS project Eku energises two UK BESS projects International news: China and Saudi Arabia collaborate on 12.5 GWh of energy storage projects and Canadian firm Hydrostor secures $200 million for compressed air energy storage Root-Power consent for 40 MW Rotherham BESS UK energy storage developer Root-Power has secured planning consent for a 40 MW/80 MWh BESS project in Brinsworth, Rotherham. Root-Power said the site will power 80,000 homes for a two-hour period once fully operational, and delivering a biodiversity net gain of 32.76%. The Brinsworth BESS is the fourth planning approval for Root-Power in 2025, following consents at sites in Yorkshire, County Durham and the Scottish Highlands. © Supplied by Root-PowerThe site of Root-Power’s 40 MW/80 MWh Brinsworth BESS project in Rotherham. Root-Power managing director Neil Brooks said the company “carefully selected a near perfect location” for the Brinsworth project. “Managing competing constraints is always difficult when planning a project, so finding a suitable location only 1 mile from the point of connection in an urban area, without causing unacceptable noise or visual impact on sensitive receptors is a real achievement,” he said. “We are happy to see that the planning committee unanimously supported our application, which is a real vote of confidence in our process and team.” Sungrow and BW ESS Bramley BESS starts up Swiss energy storage developer

UK construction and engineering firm Costain (LON:COST) has secured a multi-million pound contract to support the construction of the Sizewell C nuclear power plant. Costain said under the ten-year framework agreement, the company will provide support in areas such as delivery integration, health and safety and quality control. French state-owned energy firm EDF is developing the 3.2 GW nuclear power station, which could provide up to 7% of UK energy needs over its 60-year lifetime. The UK government holds a 76.1% stake in Sizewell C, with EDF holding the remaining 23.9%. Costain defence and nuclear energy sector director Bob Anstey said the Sizewell C project is a “vital part of creating a sustainable future”. “We have a long and successful track record in delivering for our civil nuclear customers, with a highly qualified and experienced workforce that consistently works to the highest safety and quality standards,” Anstey said. “A key part of our role will be to help ensure the project leaves a positive legacy, and we look forward to working closely with Sizewell C on a range of social value and employment initiatives that improve lives and provide long-term benefits to local communities.” Sizewell C Ltd managing director Nigel Cann said the project will “strengthen energy security and provide clean, reliable electricity for millions”. “We welcome Costain to the Sizewell C supplier family,” Cann said. “We are committed to providing thousands of great jobs and career development opportunities and we’re looking forward to working with our suppliers to boost skills, promote a diverse workforce and spread opportunities as widely as possible.” Sizewell C criticism The Sizewell C project has attracted significant criticism amid concerns over its ballooning costs. Earlier this year, campaign group Together Against Sizewell C (TASC) wrote to the National Audit Office calling for a review of

Charles Yang is the founder and executive director of the Center for Industrial Strategy. President Trump forming a National Energy Dominance Council in the White House is a key recognition of the importance of energy to industrial policy. Affordable, abundant electricity is the foundation of America’s economic future, powering everything from advanced manufacturing to data centers. The council offers a rare opportunity to develop a unified federal strategy for energy dominance, linking industrial policy and load growth. However, the White House might quickly find how difficult it is for the federal government to unilaterally bring online new generation to meet load growth. The electricity sector’s web of regional operators, state regulators and investor-owned utilities have far more direct control over generation investments than the federal government. While financing vehicles like the Loan Programs Office or smart grid grants can help incentivize investments in the power sector, there are few levers the U.S. government has available to directly meet load growth. One unique exception to this is hydropower: the majority of the hydropower fleet in the U.S. is federally owned and operated, providing about 80 GW of generating capacity, with pumped storage hydropower being responsible for over 90% of the nation’s energy storage capacity.  The federal government’s ownership of hydropower facilities offers a rare chance to fast-track solutions to load growth. Hydropower is also one of the lowest cost, baseload sources of energy generation, which makes it attractive to manufacturers with large loads, like polysilicon producers and data center developers. For instance, Iron Mountain Data Centers and Rye Development signed a 150-MW power purchase agreement, with Rye Development using the PPA financing to power non-powered dams across the mid-Atlantic. The National Energy Dominance Council can leverage the direct federal control over hydropower and dam facilities to help meet load growth through

A North American Electric Reliability Corp. study on interregional transfer capability is inadequate for determining how much transmission capacity should be added between regions, according to grid planners across the Eastern Interconnection. NERC’s study — ordered by Congress in 2023 — provides “helpful information” but lacks enough detail to drive actions, the Eastern Interconnection Planning Collaborative said in comments filed with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission on Monday. In its study filed with FERC in November, NERC found that the U.S. could use an additional 35 GW of transfer capacity between regions to bolster reliability during extreme weather. However, the study fails to adequately consider the costs and benefits of building transmission lines to increase transfer capacity between regions, according to EIPC, which includes ISO New England, the Midcontinent Independent System Operator, the New York ISO, the PJM Interconnection, the Southwest Power Pool and utilities such as Southern Co. “Large nationwide studies, like the [Interregional Transfer Capability Study,] have no way of achieving sufficiently detailed results to effectively weigh the cost/benefit associated with adding transfer capability within or between different regions, or to appropriately assign costs to the true beneficiaries,” the group said.  Transmission planning entities should assess interregional transfer capability needs, according to EIPC. “Those entities have complex models of the system, and they are in the best position to evaluate resource adequacy and transmission security as well as an understanding of enhanced needs due to extreme weather conditions,” the group said. Determining how much transfer capability is needed should be informed by how it could improve system reliability, but also the cost of the upgrades, the ability to assign the costs to beneficiaries and the overall cost/benefit ratio compared with other options, such as generation resource additions, demand side management or operational measures, EIPC said. Further, adding transmission capacity

Florida-based New APR Energy plans to deploy four mobile gas turbines, together capable of providing more than 100 MW of behind-the-meter power, to an unnamed data center hyperscaler, the company announced Tuesday. It expects to make more such deployments as the electricity demands of artificial intelligence begin to accelerate, officials said. Fortress Investment Group said in January it had acquired APR Energy’s assets, comprising 30 mobile gas-powered turbines with a combined capacity of 850 MW. “We are excited to deploy New APR Energy’s first 100 MW to a U.S.-based data center. This deployment is a good proof point for our investment thesis for behind-the-meter power demand,” said Chuck Ferry, New APR Energy chairman and CEO. He also serves as CEO of Duostech. Members of the former APR Energy management team lead New APR Energy through an asset management agreement with Duostech. “We are currently in discussions with many other data center operators and hyperscalers seeking similar support and expect to announce more deployments in the coming weeks,” Ferry said. Data centers and growth in AI have driven electricity demand forecasts rapidly higher over the past year. The Electric Power Research Institute in May predicted data centers could double their consumption, to 9% of the United States’ electricity generation, by 2030. However, improved algorithm and chip efficiency could slow that demand growth, experts say. Microsoft has canceled leases for two data centers, TD Cowen analysts said last week, though the company maintains it will spend more than $80 billion on infrastructure this fiscal year. “Securing power solutions from local utilities has become a challenge for data center expansion,” New APR said in its announcement. The company’s mobile gas turbine fleet “offers a fast and flexible alternative that can accelerate a data center developer’s project timeline and scalability.”

Political uncertainty surrounding offshore wind in the U.S. and the withdrawal of project partner Shell led EDF Renewables to book a $980 million impairment associated with Atlantic Shores Offshore Wind, the company said in a Friday report. Atlantic Shores Offshore Wind was a joint venture between Shell and EDF until Shell exited last month and booked a $1 billion impairment associated with the investment. The venture was developing the 2.8-GW Atlantic Shores 1 and 2 projects offshore New Jersey. On Atlantic Shores’ website, the project responded to Shell’s exit with a Jan. 30 statement that said, “While we can’t comment on the views of shareholders, Atlantic Shores intends to continue progressing New Jersey’s first offshore wind project and our portfolio in compliance with our obligations to local, state and federal partners under existing leases and relevant permits.” However, the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities responded to Shell’s decision by canceling the state’s fourth offshore wind solicitation earlier this month. “A number of reasons led to this decision, notably Shell backing out as an equity partner in the Atlantic Shores project and backing away from the American clean energy market, as well as uncertainty driven by federal actions and permitting,” NJBPU President Christine Guhl-Sadovy said in a Feb. 3 release. “The Board concluded that an award in New Jersey’s fourth offshore wind solicitation, despite the manifold benefits the industry offers to the state, would not be a responsible decision at this time.” After EDF’s writedown of its own stake, the project’s fate is left unclear. The 1.5-GW Atlantic Shores 1 had received a construction and operations plan approval from the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management in October, and completion was slated for 2028. EDF said “unfavourable changes in the political situation in the United States, Shell’s announcement of its withdrawal from