REG - Gresham House Energy - Completion of Battery Storage Project
30 November 2020
Gresham House Energy Storage Fund PLC
(the "Company", "Fund" or "GRID")
Acquisition and completion of utility-scale battery storage project
50MW Wickham project grows GRID's operational portfolio to 315MW
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 Wickham Market, Suffolk ("Wickham" or the "Project"). Wickham follows GRID's recent acquisition of the Thurcroft project and was acquired for a total enterprise value of £32.75 million (plus up to £0.75 million of deferred contingent consideration).
Wickham is a battery-only site with c.50MW/40MW export/import capacity, and 74MWh 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 12 operational utility-scale battery storage projects in the Fund's investment portfolio (the "Portfolio") to 315MW.
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
Wickham
Suffolk
50
Total
315
John Leggate CBE, Chair of Gresham House Energy Storage Fund plc said:
"The addition of Wickham boosts GRID's operational capacity by nearly 20%, just weeks after the Thurcroft facility began supplying balancing services to National Grid. These two utility-scale power storage units are among the largest facilities in the UK and will deliver significant incremental revenues to support our target returns. This is clearly a material contribution to enhancing the stability of the grid, and also supports the acceleration of the expansion of UK's renewable power generation fleet".
Ben Guest, Fund Manager of Gresham House Energy Storage Fund plc said:
"We are delighted to complete this acquisition so soon after our successful fundraising, allowing the team to focus efforts on our pipeline opportunities."
For further information, please contact:
Gresham House New Energy
Ben Guest
+44 (0)20 3837 6270
Jefferies International Limited
Stuart Klein
Gaudi Le Roux
Neil Winward
+44 (0)20 7029 8000
KL Communications
Charles Gorman
Camilla Esmund
Alex Hogan
gh@kl-communications.com
+44 (0)20 3995 6699
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 315MW. 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 £358 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 224MW 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.
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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