Ardian Clean Energy Evergreen Fund (ACEEF) Invests in Finnish Battery Energy Storage System
Ardian, a world leading private investment house, in partnership with its operating platform eNordic, today announces it has taken Final Investment Decision (FID) to build Mertaniemi battery energy storage project, a 38.5MW one hour utility scale battery energy storage system (BESS) in Finland, to support the Finnish power grid.
The investment, made from the Ardian Clean Energy Evergreen Fund (ACEEF), marks the fund’s first investment in the BESS asset class, which is expected to grow significantly in size from 11GWh of installed capacity in Europe today to 75GWh by 2030 according to Bloomberg New Energy Finance. Ardian assessed the merits of this investment using OPTA, Ardian’s proprietary data analysis platform, which powers revenue and operational strategy across Ardian’s renewable infrastructure portfolio globally.
The project is aligned with the ACEEF strategy in Finland, which aims to acquire and aggregate wind and solar power assets to benefit from economies of scale and to better utilize the grid interconnection points by developing battery storage assets. This follows the acquisition of two wind farms in Finland in 2023, totaling more than 27MW. The strategy is being executed by eNordic, a renewable energy platform developed and wholly owned by Ardian to serve the Nordic region.
Mertaniemi battery energy storage project is a joint venture between ACEEF and Lappeenrannan Energia, a Finnish municipal energy company. It will see the development of a 1-hour 38.5-megawatt energy storage system. The project is due to complete in spring 2025 and is located near the Mertaniemi power plant in Lappeenranta.
In addition to the energy storage system, the project includes the development of facilities to protect the batteries from extreme weather conditions. Once complete, the system will participate in the local grid’s frequency reserve markets and support the balancing of production and consumption in the power grid.
The ACEEF will continue to execute its strategy to grow the platform in Finland, with the acquisition of further wind and battery assets in the region.