Highview investment

In June 2024, the National Wealth Fund (which was the UK Infrastructure Bank at the time of the investment) invested £165 million to support Highview Power with the construction of the World’s first commercial-scale liquid air energy storage (LAES) plant. The Fund, alongside Centrica, and the UK Government, led a £300 million fundraise from a syndicate of investors including Rio Tinto, Goldman Sachs Power Trading, Kirkbi and Mosaic Capital.

Highview’s cutting-edge facility, located in Carrington, Greater Manchester, will help to balance the grid by storing energy when renewable sources are exceeding the power demand, and then releasing the energy when needed. The project will also support more than 380 jobs in total.

Scaling nascent storage technologies such as Highview’s LAES is crucial to the energy transition, providing greater flexibility and adaptability for the grid to help make the most of intermittent renewable energy sources. Once operational the site will have storage capacity of 300 MWh and an output power of 50 MWs per hour for 6 hours, providing a much-needed boost to the UK’s long-duration storage capability.

The successful fundraise has enabled construction work to begin on the site immediately, with the facility expected to be operational in 2026. 

Peter Clifton, National Wealth Fund Banking and Investments Director, said: 

The National Wealth Fund is pleased to be supporting Highview in developing the UK’s first commercial LAES facility. This investment perfectly demonstrates the Fund’s ability to take risk, and act as a market leader, helping to mobilise private finance to support first-of-a-kind net zero technologies reach commercial scale while also driving regional, local and economic growth.