Friday, 4 September 2026

Eelpower Energy has bought the Silkstead battery energy storage project near Winchester, England, from developer Balanced Grid Works, according to ESS News. The buyer is a UK grid-scale battery storage platform backed by Equitix, Aware Super and the National Wealth Fund.

ESS News reported the company described Silkstead as a 50 MW/200 MWh development, a four-hour duration asset.

Construction is expected to begin in 2027, with commercial operations starting in 2028, Eelpower Energy said.

The purchase is the platform's fifth since it launched in September 2025, according to the company.

Eelpower is working toward a GBP 500 million investment in UK battery storage under a plan to build, own and operate more than 1 GW of grid-scale battery assets, per ESS News.

That capital base was set when the platform was formed in August 2025. Equitix, Aware Super and the National Wealth Fund committed GBP 500 million to launch it, with the National Wealth Fund putting up to GBP 200 million specifically toward UK projects, ESS News reported.

At 50 MW, Silkstead accounts for a small share of the more than 1 GW build-out target the company has set. Reaching that figure implies further acquisitions beyond the five completed in the platform's first year of operation.

ESS Inc has rebuilt its 2026 strategy around sodium-ion storage and slowed work on its iron flow technology because liquidity is tight, chief executive Drew Buckley told ESS News in an interview.

The company reported USD 5.6 million of unrestricted cash and cash equivalents in its most recent quarterly report, according to Buckley. It raised roughly USD 3.2 million through a direct offering earlier in the month.

The sodium pivot has a commercial pipeline attached. ESS said it identified nearly USD 1 billion in early-stage opportunities for the sodium solution, an announcement that came only a few weeks after a cell agreement with Alsym Energy, per ESS News.

Among the named deals, Buckley pointed to a 500 MWh letter of intent signed with Juniper Energy. That agreement covers an 80 MWh project in California with a major utility.

The iron flow line has not been abandoned. ESS acquired the intellectual property of flow technology developer Voltstorage earlier in the year, Buckley said.

On hardware timing, the company is testing its first Bridge modules and expects to begin the required certifications process by year-end, according to the interview. Buckley said ESS intends to deliver both pilot and commercial projects in 2027.

South Korean battery system manufacturer DeltaX will site its North American headquarters in Walton County, Georgia, on the eastern outskirts of Atlanta, according to Solar Builder.

Georgia Economic Development puts the value of the site at USD 141 million. Solar Builder reported that the plant is expected to create roughly 250 jobs across the eastern Atlanta region.

Battery assembly anchors the opening stage of the build. The first phase covers a 100,000 square foot site dedicated to that work, according to Solar Builder.

At Lixhe in Belgium, a battery plant rated 150 MW and 600 MWh has entered service under the ownership of Luminus, an EDF subsidiary, and infrastructure fund I4B, ESS News reported.

Capital spending on the Navagne site reached EUR 160 million, and the plant feeds straight into the high-voltage grid run by transmission system operator Elia, according to ESS News. That works out to about EUR 266.7 per kilowatt-hour of installed energy capacity, the outlet calculated.

Luminus chief executive Grégoire Dallemagne called it "the largest in Wallonia" at its inauguration.

Financial close came in June 2025, with commissioning due by October 2026, ESS News reported.

No integrator was named. ESS News said the equipment is understood to be a Sungrow model, and that 132 storage containers sit on the site.

I4B, The Belgian Infrastructure Fund, worked alongside Luminus on the build, and Navagne counts as the fund's first completed investment.