Bristol-headquartered national law firm TLT has advised on a major battery storage project at Avonmouth which has given an international renewable energy group its first venture in the UK.
TLT secured a 25-year lease on the site for Hallen Energy, part of the French-owned Voltalia Group. 
The site, which was sold to Voltalia by London-based specialist real estate firm Electric Land, has planning permission, grid connection and a capacity market contract for a 33MW battery storage facility.
Voltalia has started pre-construction work and expects the site to be operational next summer.
TLT head of clean energy and real estate Maria Connolly led the transaction and provided expert advice on all real estate aspects of the deal. Legal director Kerri Ashworth provided support.
Maria, pictured, said: “Battery storage represents a fantastic opportunity for the UK energy market, and we’re delighted to be playing a role in the provision of clean energy technologies.
“We’ve been working with Voltalia for the past year and are pleased to have been able to support them with its first battery storage project in the UK.” 
Paris Stock Exchange-listed Voltalia has solar and wind projects either in operation or under construction with the capacity to generate 1.2GW along with a pipeline of 7.8GW including battery storage.
Voltalia head of development Kelly Clutterbuck added: “We have a wide portfolio of projects under development internationally and are very excited to be bringing our battery storage expertise to the UK.
“I’m grateful to Maria and Kerri at TLT for their support with this transaction. Their in-depth knowledge of the clean energy sector combined with their real estate expertise was a real asset throughout the process.”
Electric Land was advised by Birmingham law firm Shakespeare Martineau on all legal aspects of the lease, including its acquisition of the site in 2018.
The site forms the first phase of the Avonmouth Energy Park, a joint venture between Electric Land and Low Carbon Alliance (LCA), a London-based chartered surveying and engineering consultancy.
Work on the second phase a 50MW Reserve Power Generation Facility, extendable to 65MW, has also started.
The development is Electric Land’s largest project to date in the joint venture with LCA and its fifth successful development project.
Electric Land now has a portfolio of more than 20 sites, 12 of them leased and delivering 165MW-plus of a consented 286MW of generation and storage.
The firm is the specialist energy infrastructure land promotion and investment vehicle of the Foundation Property & Capital Group.
