Drax has agreed to acquire three battery energy storage system (BESS) projects from Apatura for £157.2 million. The portfolio totals 260 MW across two sites in Scotland and one in Northern England. All three are ready-to-build, with staged payments tied to progress milestones through to 2028. Construction is expected to begin in 2026, with the first site targeted to come online in 2027.
Drax is moving decisively into short-duration storage as part of its broader FlexGen strategy, which includes flexible gas, long-duration hydro, and now grid-connected battery systems. Once built, these projects will add a new layer to Drax’s 1.8 GW of dispatchable flexible capacity, separate from its 2.6 GW main generation site.
The deal structure itself is designed to manage capital exposure. Drax will release funds against delivery milestones, allowing it to tie expenditure to real progress while preserving balance sheet flexibility. It also secures an option to acquire a further 289 MW across eight additional sites from Apatura, potentially more than doubling its battery pipeline in a cost-controlled manner.
Drax Group plc (LON:DRX), trading as Drax, is a power generation business. The principal downstream enterprises are based in the UK and include Drax Power Limited, which runs the biomass fuelled Drax power station, near Selby in North Yorkshire.
