Foresight Group Acquires Blackhillock Synchronous Condenser From GIP

Foresight Group, a London-listed infrastructure manager, says it has finalized the acquisition of an asset providing grid-stabilization services in North East Scotland. The asset, named "Blackhillock" by the company, was reportedly sold by funds managed by Global Infrastructure Partners (GIP), according to a press release issued on September 7, 2026. GIP became a subsidiary of American asset manager BlackRock on October 1, 2024, following a merger completed roughly two years ago. This dual affiliation frames the scale of both parties: a leading institutional seller, backed by an asset-management giant, divesting to a listed British acquirer. A market driven by the retirement of dispatchable plants Synchronous condensers are rotating machines not coupled to a turbine: they do not generate electricity but supply reactive power, inertia and short-circuit current to the grid. This service is gaining importance as thermal and nuclear plants close and the share of intermittent wind and solar generation rises. In the United Kingdom, the expansion of battery storage is part of the same transformation of the power system, as illustrated elsewhere in the world by developments around battery storage plants or the expansion of specialized players such as EnergyLIB in Australia. These stabilization assets are remunerated through long-term, inflation-indexed contracts awarded by the British transmission system operator NESO (National Energy System Operator) under its Stability Pathfinder program. Foresight presents this acquisition as its entry into this specific market, complementing its existing portfolio of renewable energy and battery storage assets. The group had previously carried out a battery-storage transaction, presented as building the largest operational UK battery portfolio of a given discharge duration. Anouska Morjaria, presented by Foresight as "investment director" at the time of the announcement, held the title of "associate investment director" in January 2025, the most recent role independently verifiable at that date. No transaction price was disclosed by either party. Asset identification still to be clarified The name "Blackhillock" refers, in available open documentation, to a large transmission substation in northern Scotland. It also corresponds, far more extensively documented than the synchronous condenser targeted by this acquisition, to a large-scale battery storage asset developed and operated by Zenobē Energy at the same site. No source independent of the acquisition announcement has confirmed the existence of a synchronous condenser specifically bearing this name. Synchronous condensers identified in this geographic area carry other project names, associated with developers distinct from GIP, such as the "Beatrice" condenser, developed by TINZ Programme 1 ProjectCo 3 in the immediate vicinity. This point would merit direct confirmation from Foresight Group, for instance through the exact cadastral location of the asset or the project name as it appears in NESO's contract-award registers. Contracts under the Stability Pathfinder Phase 2 program were awarded in 2022, four years before this acquisition was announced in September 2026. The transaction illustrates the growing volume of deals involving grid-stability assets in the United Kingdom, a segment still sparsely covered by sources independent of corporate press releases.