JLEN teams up with Foresight Solar to acquire Scotland's Gigabox No 4

Environmental infrastructure fund JLEN has acquired a 50% equity stake in Gigabox No 4, which holds the development rights to construct a 49.9-megawatt lithium-ion battery energy storage plant based in Scotland.

JLEN said on Friday that the investment was made alongside Foresight Solar Fund and will see it invest up to £16.4m into the project, which is fully consented and construction ready, with commercial operations expected to commence in early 2024.

The project will be connected to the Scottish Hydro Electric Power Distribution's distribution network and has a 49.9mw import and export connection but will initially run with a capacity of 45mw before increasing to full capacity by early 2025.

Chairman Ed Warner said: "We are pleased to add another battery project to the JLEN portfolio, building the scale of our battery portfolio and leveraging the experience and expertise we have in this sector.

"We believe that projects such as these will be a vital tool in helping to balance demand on the local electricity network and will become increasingly important over the long-term as more renewable energy infrastructure comes onto the grid."

Reporting by Iain Gilbert at Sharecast.com