Eku Energy, an energy storage project developer, secured more than £45 million (~$59 million) debt financing to construct a 99 MW/198 MWh battery energy storage project located at Ocker Hill, between the towns of Dudley and Wednesbury in the West Midlands.
NatWest Bank and Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation (SMBC) provided financing.
Construction is expected to begin next month and will be completed in late 2026. The project will utilize 54 Tesla Megapacks and be built by H&MV Engineering, the balance of the plant contractor.
Under a 10-year agreement, SmartestEnergy, a wholly owned subsidiary of Marubeni Corporation, will provide the tolling.
In addition to financing for the project, SMBC and NatWest have provided an uncommitted accordion facility of £100 million (~$132.12 million) to support the company’s near-term U.K. projects, including some of the recently announced under-development projects resulting from the acquisition of the Bluestone Energy battery energy storage system portfolio. The portfolio includes seven planned battery storage projects with a combined capacity of 1 GW/2 GWh.
Daniel Burrows, Chief Executive Officer at Eku Energy, said, “Eku Energy’s growing portfolio in the United Kingdom reflects our commitment to deliver safe, secure, and reliable energy storage solutions that will provide cost-effective clean energy. By securing strong financial backing from NatWest Bank and Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation for the Ocker Hill BESS and partnering with Tesla and SmartestEnergy, we are continuing to expand our role in building a more flexible and resilient energy system for the United Kingdom.”
In November 2024, the company announced that it reached financial closure for its 250 MW/500 MWh Williamsdale battery energy storage system located in the Australian Capital Territory (ACT). Tesla will supply Megapack technology for the project.
According to Mercom’s Q1 2025 Funding and M&A Report for Energy Storage and Smart Grid, announced Energy Storage project funding in 2025 increased 142% year-over-year.
