New milestone hit on major energy project

Wednesday, 7 January 2026 16:53

By George Lythgoe

A huge energy storage project in Rochdale has hit a new milestone. An infrastructure agreement has been made between the National Grid and battery energy storage (BESS) operator Root-Power.

This scheme will accelerate the building development of a new renewable energy project in the Newhey area of Rochdale over the next five years. The BESS will have a 30-megawatt (MW) capacity and will safeguard the needs of thousands of business and residential energy users during peak demand.

It will also help reduce price volatility and prevent blackouts that cause disruption to local communities and costly downtime for businesses in that area, according to Root-Power.

Battery storage facilities work like power banks, storing excess electricity as chemical energy, and releasing it when needed. Renewable energy sources like solar panels and wind turbines have to stop operating when power capacity reaches its limit – this project increases that maximum capacity.

The Grid Offer Notifications (GONs) agreed with the National Energy System Operator (NESO) are a key step towards the government implementing its Clean Power 2030 (CP2030) reforms and will now enable Root-Power to build and connect 13 BESS storage facilities in the UK to the National Grid.

Neil Brooks, managing director at Root-Power said: “Securing these grid agreements is a game-changer for us as a business as we look to operate at scale and build a portfolio of BESS facilities that supplies over 1.7GW of power to communities by 2031. Without them, our Rochdale site simply cannot operate or go into construction, regardless of planning permission.

“Each project that we can now progress will greatly benefit the wider economy and help the UK to transition to a cleaner, more resilient energy system as part of the government’s CP2030 reforms over the next five years.

“We’re proud to be at the forefront of driving grid transformation that will modernise the electricity network and enable it to quickly connect and manage high volumes of low-carbon energy production, storage and demand.

“This is down to the hard work of our team in securing this successful outcome and our commitment to accelerating flexible, renewable energy projects across the UK.”

Root-Power is part of the YLEM Group and plays a pivotal role in storing and integrating renewable energy within the National Grid.

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