Centrica has unwrapped its new 49MW fast-response battery ahead of Christmas.

The energy giant built the Roosecote battery on the site of a former coal-fired power station in Cumbria.

It claims the facility is one of the largest battery storage units in Europe – it can come online in less than a second to meet fluctuations in demand and store enough power to supply around 50,000 homes.

The project, which took 18 months to complete, is part of Centrica’s £180 million investment into flexible power.

Mark Futyan, Distributed Power Systems Director at Centrica Business Solutions, said: “The Roosecote site is truly unique, having been home to the latest technology of its time and is an exemplar of the transition we’ve made from dirty coal to cleaner, more flexible power.”