Cero Generation and its development partner Enso Energy have reached financial close on the Bumble Bee Project, a solar PV and battery project, connecting to the West Burton substation near Doncaster in the UK.

The project will combine 78MW of solar PV and a 120 MW battery. Revenues for a portion of the battery will be secured by a long-term tolling agreement with Engie. Under the 10-year agreement, Engie will optimise 70MW/140MWh of battery capacity. Cero said the tolling agreement is its first and the first on a co-located asset in the UK. EDF will provide optimisation services for the remainder of the battery and route-to-market services for the solar PV.
Financial close has been reached with a group of lenders including ING, NORD/LB, Rabobank and Santander UK.
Bill Rees, Managing Director of Enso Energy, said that during the connections reform process, “early engagement with National Grid Electricity Transmission (NGET) and NESO, including confirmation of connection dates for both technologies, has been invaluable in keeping the project on track.” He added, “By constructing solar and battery storage in parallel behind one grid connection, we deliver more capacity, faster and more efficiently, exactly what CP30 is intended to achieve.”