By High Growth Scotland editorial
The Scottish National Investment Bank has committed £50m to take a minority stake in the Devilla Battery Energy Storage System (BESS) in Fife, joining the Nuclear Liabilities Fund as co-investor in a divestment by Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners (CIP). NLF’s stake size has not been disclosed. CIP, which retains the majority interest and continues to lead project delivery, is divesting the stakes on behalf of its Copenhagen Infrastructure IV fund.
Devilla is a 500MW, two-hour lithium-ion battery project at Kincardine, giving it 1GWh of storage capacity once fully operational. CIP says that on completion in 2028, Devilla will be among Europe’s largest battery storage facilities, designed to support grid stability and the integration of renewable power onto the system. The project has secured a 10-year optimisation agreement with SSE plc, together with a 15-year capacity market agreement, providing long-term visibility on core revenues while preserving exposure to wholesale and balancing-market upside. That capacity contract locks in long-dated revenue for asset owners, which is central to the project’s investment case.
Devilla is one of three transmission-connected BESS assets co-developed by Alcemi and CIP that are now under construction in Scotland. Collectively, the three projects will have 1.5GW of power capacity and 3GWh of storage, enough to supply more than 4.5 million households for two hours, according to CIP. CIP is developing a further 4.5GW of battery storage across Scotland and England, underscoring the scale at which international capital is building out storage infrastructure on and around the Scottish grid.
Nischal Agarwal, partner at CIP, said: “As CIP’s development and construction portfolio of UK BESS projects continues to progress and grow, we look forward to welcoming the Scottish National Investment Bank and Nuclear Liabilities Fund as new equity partners on our Devilla site. Once commissioned in 2028, Devilla will be one of Europe’s biggest operational BESS projects. The delivery of Devilla, alongside CIP’s Coalburn 1 and 2 projects, will improve the UK’s energy security and reduce costs for British consumers through enhanced system flexibility and access to more low-cost renewables.” For readers tracking SNIB’s exposure, the reference to Coalburn 1 and 2 points to a pipeline where similar co-investment structures could yet be used on other large storage assets as they approach commissioning.
Robin Tayal, investment director at the Scottish National Investment Bank, said: “Battery energy storage systems are a critical part of improving energy security and stability. The Devilla site is strategically located and will support renewable integration, grid stability, and system flexibility. We are pleased to partner with CIP and the wider investor group to support the delivery of this important asset.”
SNIB passed the £1bn committed milestone in early 2026, with a £10m equity investment in Inverness-based Aurora Energy Services confirmed as the transaction that took it over the line. Audit Scotland’s May 2025 review reported that as at year-end 2024/25 the Bank had committed more than £785m across 43 businesses and projects, and that it had attracted £1.4bn of private sector funding into those investments. Taken together, the Devilla commitment and that record underline that the Bank’s mission to crowd in private capital is being delivered largely through participation in sizeable infrastructure and growth deals rather than a narrow focus on early-stage equity.
Nuclear Liabilities Fund chief executive Melissa Hope said: “NLF is pleased to partner with CIP and the Bank on this battery storage project. This investment aligns with our strategic investment objectives while supporting UK energy security and economic growth.” NLF was established in 1996 to meet decommissioning costs of the UK’s eight remaining nuclear power stations and has invested more than £1.6bn in the UK to date. Decommissioning-anchored capital flowing into storage assets that will support renewable generation shows how long-duration funds are being drawn directly into the clean-energy transition rather than remaining confined to legacy nuclear obligations.
In Case You Missed It:
Scotland sends 60% of its venture capital into deep tech – now it needs a model built for Scottish scale
PLATFORM_ Appoints New CFO as Build-to-Rent Operator Eyes Growth Across Scotland and Beyond
Scotland’s £multi-billion grid build-out cleared for take-off as Ofgem unlocks early funding for 26 transmission projects
CIP is divesting the minority stakes on behalf of its Copenhagen Infrastructure IV fund while retaining the lead role through construction. That leaves day-to-day delivery in private hands while bringing two state-linked investors into the capital stack, a structural pattern increasingly visible in large UK energy projects where strategic assets are part-anchored by public capital. For High Growth Scotland readers, the key questions as Devilla moves towards its 2028 commissioning date are whether the SNIB–NLF template repeats on CIP’s Coalburn projects and when the Bank chooses to originate, rather than co-invest in, a grid-scale storage asset of comparable size.
