Gresham House Energy project in line for 25-year contract
Gresham House Energy Storage Fund PLC on Monday said Ofgem is "minded to" award its Ocker Hill project a cap and floor contract under its Long Duration Energy Storage scheme.
The investor in utility-scale battery energy storage systems said Ocker Hill is one of 16 projects the UK energy regulator provisionally included in its portfolio to receive the LDES support for 145 megawatts or 1,160 megawatt-hours with an eight-hour duration.
Ocker Hill is a 240-megawatt battery energy storage system project in England's West Midlands, with connection expected in October, 2029, and "has the optionality of being built to either 2 hours or at a longer duration." GRID said Ofgem's 145MW, eight-hour award would draw on that longer duration optionality.
The company added that the 25-year government cap and floor support underwrites LDES project revenue for the award's duration, and is designed to unlock investment in long-duration energy storage while protecting consumers from over-payment.
It said the floor is designed to provide investors with revenue certainty to receive a return of at least 4.47% in real terms on invested capital, with cap and floor levels derived from benchmark target rates of return of 4.47% at the floor and 7.31% at the cap.
GRID expects details of the final awards to be published in Autumn, with Ofgem inviting consultation responses until August 7.
"Gresham House has consistently argued, alongside other leading UK BESS operators, that batteries are the most cost-effective technology and with the least environmental impact...and that consumers are best served when technology solutions are treated on a level basis," commented Ben Guest, the fund manager of GRID and managing director of Gresham House Energy Transition. "The direction of travel set out in Friday's announcement is welcome on both counts.
"Ocker Hill is well placed to deliver on this award," Guest continued. "Configuring the project to an eight-hour duration draws on the optionality we identified at acquisition and would bring a high-quality [LDES] asset with long-term government-backed, index-linked, revenue into GRID's portfolio, and supports the wider system task of integrating renewables whilst helping to keep bills down for consumers."
Gresham House Energy shares were up 0.4% at 83.89 pence late on Monday morning in London.
Copyright 2026 Alliance News Ltd. All Rights Reserved.