Danish infrastructure fund manager Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners (CIP) has divested half of its stake in Coalburn 2, a Scottish battery energy storage project. The stake will be acquired by AIP Management, a specialist investor.
Coalburn 2, located in South Lanarkshire in Scotland, is a 500MW lithium-ion battery energy storage (BESS) project currently in the construction phase. The 50% ownership stake will transfer to AIP once the site is commissioned in 2027.
Scottish storage
The project’s has a 15-year capacity market agreement and contracted revenues through a decade long optimisation agreement with SSE. CIP took a final investment decision for Coalburn 2 in December 2024.
This is one of three BESS projects being constructed by CIP in Scotland. Once operational, these are expected to have a total power capacity of 1.5GW.
“As CIP’s development and construction portfolio of UK BESS projects continues to progress and grow, we look forward to welcoming AIP as a new partner on our Coalburn 2 site, which once commissioned in 2027 will be one of Europe’s biggest operational BESS projects”, said Nischal Agarwal, a partner at CIP.
For AIP, which is majority owned by Nordic financial services group Storebrand, has a €8bn infrastructure portfolio. The Coalburn 2 investment adds to its widening appetite for BESS projects in the UK that are either under construction or operational.
“This investment reinforces our conviction in the UK energy storage market and reflects our strategy of partnering selectively on high-quality, ready-to-build or operational assets”, commented Greg Falzon, partner and co-head of investments at AIP.
“Together with our recent Ardenham investment, it forms part of a growing portfolio that combines strong downside protection with long-term value creation”, he adds.
CIP had invested in Coalburn through one of its flagship funds - Copenhagen Infrastructure IV (CI IV). The fund, which focuses on greenfield energy infrastructure assets, had reached a €1.5bn first close back in June 2020 and final close in April 2021.
The fund, which is now closed, has an investor base comprising of roughly 100 institutional investors including pension funds, family offices and life insurers.
