Completion of 50MW Battery Storage Project

RNS Number : 8415D

Gresham House Energy Storage Fund

02 November 2020

 

2 November 2020

Gresham House Energy Storage Fund PLC

(the "Company", "Fund" or "GRID")

Acquisition and completion of the Fund's largest utility-scale battery storage project

50MW Thurcroft project grows GRID's operational portfolio to 265MW

Gresham House Energy Storage Fund plc (LSE: GRID), the UK's largest operational utility-scale battery storage fund, has completed its investment in the 50MW battery project located near Thurcroft, to the east of Rotherham ("Thurcroft" or the "Project").  Thurcroft is GRID's largest project to date and was acquired for a total enterprise value of £32.5 million (plus up to £0.75 million of deferred contingent consideration).

Thurcroft is a battery-only site with 50MW export/import capacity, and 75MWh storage capacity. It is connected to the distribution network and the commissioning tests have now been successfully completed. The Project is expected to generate its revenues from trading whereby it imports and exports power in order to earn income from the wholesale market, and from National Grid's FFR tenders and Balancing Mechanism. Since energisation, this asset has also provided frequency response capacity under the new dynamic containment service procured by National Grid.

The Project has been acquired from Gresham House Devco Limited and Noriker Power Ltd (together, the "Developers").

Current Portfolio

The acquisition increases the total capacity of the 11 operational utility-scale battery storage projects in the Fund's investment portfolio (the "Portfolio") to 265MW.

Project	Location	MW
Staunch	Staffordshire	20
Rufford	Nottinghamshire	7
Lockleaze	Bristol	15
Littlebrook	Kent	8
Roundponds	Wiltshire	20
Wolverhampton	West Midlands	5
Glassenbury	Kent	40
Cleator Moor	Cumbria	10
Red Scar	Lancashire	49
Bloxwich	West Midlands	41
Thurcroft	South Yorkshire	50
Total		265

Following the completion of the Thurcroft acquisition, GRID expects to shortly complete the acquisition of the 50MW Wickham project, bringing the Portfolio to a capacity of 315MW. 

John Leggate CBE, Chair of Gresham House Energy Storage Fund plc said:

"Thurcroft is our largest battery project yet and we're delighted that it's now live. The dynamic fluctuations in power on the National Grid during lockdown, and the unassailable rise of wind and solar installations, have sharpened the focus on the need for fast-acting, flexible storage at scale. We're rising to this challenge by building and switching on more capacity, as the government and National Grid introduce new revenue opportunities that incentivise the wider use of battery storage in balancing the UK power system . "

For further information, please contact: 

Gresham House New Energy Ben Guest	[phone]
Jefferies International Limited Stuart Klein Gaudi Le Roux Neil Winward	[phone]
KL Communications Charles Gorman Camilla Esmund Alex Hogan	[e-mail] [phone]

About the Company and the Manager:

Gresham House Energy Storage Fund plc owns a portfolio of utility-scale operational energy storage systems (known as ESS) located in Great Britain. The portfolio has a total capacity of 265MW. The Company is managed by Gresham House Asset Management Limited under the leadership of Ben Guest. The Company was admitted to trading on the London Stock Exchange (Specialist Fund Segment) on 13 November 2018 having raised £100 million of gross proceeds from investors. Including issuance under the Placing Programme, it has now raised a total of approximately £238 million of gross proceeds from investors.

The Gresham House New Energy team has a proven track record in developing and operating energy storage and other renewable assets having developed 174MW of Energy Storage Systems and approximately 290MW of predominantly ground-mounted solar projects. Gresham House Asset Management currently manages approximately 207MW of solar and wind energy projects.

Gresham House Asset Management is the FCA authorised operating business of Gresham House plc, a London Stock Exchange quoted specialist alternative asset manager. Gresham House is committed to operating responsibly and sustainably, taking the long view in delivering sustainable investment solutions.

www.greshamhouse.com

Definition of Utility-scale battery Storage Systems

Utility-scale battery storage systems are the enabling infrastructure that will support the continued growth of renewable energy sources such as wind and solar, essential to the UK's stated target to reduce carbon emissions. They store excess energy generated by renewable energy sources and then release that stored energy back into the grid during peak hours when there is increased demand for it.

 

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