BW ESS secures financing for 1.4GWh Hams Hall battery project

Global energy-storage owner and operator BW ESS has secured financing for its Hams Hall Battery Energy Storage System near Birmingham.

Under the terms of the agreement, Rabobank, Société Générale and OCBC will provide the debt facility in equal proportions. Rabobank will also act as facility agent.

The value and other financial terms of the facility were not disclosed. The transaction is expected to close when the first phase of the project reaches commercial operation.

Located next to National Grid’s Hams Hall substation in the West Midlands, the initial phase will provide 350MW of power and 1,243MWh of storage capacity. It is expected to begin operating during the fourth quarter of 2026.

A second phase will increase the project’s total capacity to 400MW and 1,424MWh. BW ESS claims this will make Hams Hall Europe’s largest operational battery-storage site by energy capacity at the time of completion.

Once fully operational, the facility is expected to be capable of supporting the electricity requirements of approximately 1.3 million homes for up to three-and-a-half hours.

Revenues from the first phase will be supported by a ten-year floor and optimisation agreement signed with EDF earlier in 2026.

The project forms part of BW ESS’s 2.6GWh Ardenham portfolio, which is jointly owned with energy and decarbonisation investor AIP Management.

BW ESS also operates the 331MWh Bramley battery project in Hampshire and is constructing an 857MWh facility at Berkswell.

More than 30 lenders reportedly participated in the financing process for Hams Hall. CMS advised BW ESS on the transaction, while Watson Farley & Williams acted for the lenders. Everoze and Modo Energy served as technical and market advisers respectively.BC will provide the debt facility in equal proportions. Rabobank will also act as facility agent.