SAE Renewables Limited (LON:SAE), SIMEC Atlantis Energy Limited, is the owner, developer and operator of the USEP. The site has been home to electricity generation for over 50 years but the way electricity is generated and used is changing and SAE is proud to be leading that change. SAE is transforming Uskmouth into one of the largest Battery Storage sites in the UK to help support the energy transition to Net Zero while ensuring vital energy security and facilitating the increase of renewables.
Graham Reid, CEO of SAE Renewables, sets out the Company’s vision for the site:
“The Uskmouth site has always inspired me. As an engineer, I see the craftsmanship, passion and effort that has gone into creating this site and ensuring its vital operation for over five decades. I want to do all in my power to build on this legacy and redevelop the site to ensure that its purpose of serving our community and unlocking economic and social growth continues. For SAE, batteries are the key to unlocking this and the site is capable of supporting over 3.5GWh of Battery Storage projects. We already have one Battery Storage project in construction in the USEP, and while we sold that project prior to construction, it delivered vital revenue for our business that has enabled us to put the foundations in place to realise our vision for a broader Sustainable Energy Park.
We are totally focussed on building, owning and operating the next three Battery Storage projects at USEP, named after the River Usk, in Welsh Afon Wysg – “AW1”, “AW2” and “AW3”.
However, our vision goes beyond Battery Storage and I wanted to share, with our shareholders, stakeholders and partners, the possible future opportunities.
We recognise that technology, specifically AI, is a huge growth sector. This growth is exciting, and the UK has clear ambitions to benefit from this growth, but the technology requires large areas of land for data centres, electrical grid access with a guaranteed continuous supply of electricity, and rail and road connections to bring in the materials for construction. We have all these components at Uskmouth.
Amongst the key challenges are that AI and big data require substantial amounts of power with a very high degree of reliability, which can only be guaranteed by having on site power generation or Battery Storage to supplement grid supply. Uskmouth’s access to the national electricity grid and SAE’s plans to develop significant Battery Storage capacity that will ensure continuous power supply on site, making the USEP an ideal location for the development of data centres that will power the AI revolution.
