Daniel Křetínský, an investor in Royal Mail, Sainsbury’s and West Ham United has been chosen by National Grid to provide backup power to the UK for the next fifteen years.
Křetínský, nicknamed the 'Czech Sphinx', will see his company EPH build a new battery storage plant and a gas-fired generator in Yorkshire at the site of the former Eggborough coal-powered power station.
EPH acquired the site in 2015 as part of its acquisition of Eggborough, which was decommissioned in 2018.
The project would be “a major contribution to the provision of indigenous generation and energy security [in the UK] through the 2020s and into the 2030s,” EPH added.
Contracts indicated a provisional clearing price for power generated, subject to Secretary of State approval, of 63£/kW.
Jan Špringl, a member of the EPH Board of Directors, added: “We are happy that with the investment of more than £1bn we can construct one of the most modern power plant in Europe and materially contribute to the security of supply in the UK.“
EPH‘s investment was announced as Stellantis, the owner of Vauxhall, Fiat, Peugeot and Citroen, warned that the UK’s car industry’s future is uncertain unless new battery factories are built.
Rather than storage, Stellantis wants easier access to the batteries that will power its electric vehicles.
Carlos Tavares, Stellantis' chief executive, said: “I fear that if you don't have the battery supply, for the UK, the market will be in trouble.
“The big problem of the UK is to keep a size of market that would support the investments [in] battery supply,” he said.
“The shrinking industry has found it increasingly difficult to attract investment to fund construction of so-called gigafactories”, Tavares said.
Britishvolt has collapsed, BMW is shifting production of electric models to China while Nissan in Sunderland has warned it needs more British-made parts to ensure its battery plant remains located here.
Ashwani Gupta, Nissan’s chief operating officer, previously cautioned that “The UK is becoming more and more challenging as a manufacturing footprint.”