Quarterly NAV and Factsheet publication

RNS Number : 2621D

Gresham House Energy Storage Fund

27 October 2020

 

27 October 2020

Gresham House Energy Storage Fund plc

("GRID" or the "Fund")

Quarterly NAV and Factsheet publication

Gresham House Energy Storage Fund plc (LSE: GRID) (the "Fund") announces its NAV as at 30 September 2020 was 100.77p per share.

Financial highlights

For the quarter ended 30 September 2020, the Fund's NAV was £236.07m or 100.77p per share, an increase of 2.61p per share.

As highlighted in the recent Interim Results, the Board has undertaken an independent review of the discount rates used by the Fund to value its portfolio which has resulted in a modest reduction in the weighted average discount rate from 11.1% to 10.75% contributing 1.58p to the change in NAV in the quarter.

The Company has today separately announced a Q3 2020 dividend of 1.75p per Ordinary Share, resulting in dividends of 5.25p per share relating to the first three quarters of 2020. The Board has also reaffirmed expectations of 7.0p in dividends for 2020.

Finally, as recently announced, the Fund has raised approximately £15m in debt during the quarter through the issue of short term and medium term secured 'Power bonds'.

Portfolio activity & market outlook

The third quarter of 2020 has been another very active period. Bloxwich was acquired on 3 July while Thurcroft and Wickham, totalling 100MW, are expected to be acquired shortly, since both are commissioned and operational. The 10MW extension of the Glassenbury project is also expected to be operational by mid-November. Finally, the acquisition of Project River is also expected to reach completion in the near future.

The Manager believes that COVID-19 has created an inflection point for energy storage. In the Manager's view the low demand for power and high renewables supply environment seen during the lockdown created a backdrop in which it was challenging for National Grid to balance supply and demand, resulting in heavy use of gas-fired generation as the main source of flexible generation. This, combined with curtailment of renewables, proved very expensive for National Grid while also creating higher carbon emissions. This was a necessity during a difficult time but emphasised the need for batteries as this backdrop will only become more prevalent as renewable energy penetration increases.

This has highlighted the need for batteries, reinforced by a series of trials conducted by National Grid since the summer allowing energy storage to compete head-on with gas-fired generation in providing National Grid with flexible generation. Energy storage has proved to be highly competitive, according to trial data, whilst also reducing emissions. In the Manager's opinion, these trials are likely to convert into a permanent arrangement and should unlock a sustained increase in demand for energy storage.

With 48.5GW of renewables, expected to rise by at least 10GW within four years, and only c.1.1GW of energy storage, the Manager believes that the energy storage market is significantly under penetrated in the United Kingdom and Ireland.

The factsheet for the period ended 30 September 2020 is available at:

http://newenergy.greshamhouse.com/esfplc/

For further information, please contact: 

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

 

END

 

 

MSCEAFEKASKEFAA