Drax has signed a tolling agreement with West Burton C Limited, a company owned by battery operator Fidra Energy, for 250MW/500MWh of new battery capacity.
Fidra will have responsibility for construction, maintenance and availability of the asset during the contract period. In return Drax will pay a fixed annual tolling fee over the agreed term of 10 years, in return for full operational control and dispatch rights, retaining all revenues (excluding Capacity Market revenues).
Drax said it sees the agreement as a capital-light opportunity to provide additional battery capacity for the Group’s FlexGen portfolio. It also owns battery assets.
The agreement is subject to Fidra taking a final investment decision on the project by Q3 2026 and beginning commercial operations by H2 2029.
Drax Group Chief Executive Officer, Will Gardiner, said the agreement was, “… an important step in our ambition for a gigawatt scale pipeline of battery storage opportunities, alongside our recent acquisitions of Flexitricity and three battery storage developments.”