22 April 2021
Gresham House Energy Storage Fund PLC
(the "Company", "Fund" or "GRID")
Acquisition of large utility-scale battery storage project
Gresham House Energy Storage Fund PLC (LSE: GRID), the UK's largest operational utility-scale battery storage fund, has completed its acquisition of the c.30MW battery project located near Wester Dechmont, Livingston in West Lothian, Scotland ("Byers Brae") (the "Project"). The Project was acquired for a total enterprise value of £15.6 million (plus up to £0.35 million of deferred contingent consideration) and is part of the pipeline described in the Fund's Prospectus published on 10 November 2020.
Byers Brae is a battery-only site with a c.30MW/30MW export/import capacity which commenced commercial operations in March 2021. The Project is expected to generate revenues primarily from asset optimisation (whereby it imports and exports power to earn income from the wholesale market and the National Grid administered Balancing Mechanism), together with frequency response services. It is currently providing Dynamic Containment services, being a fast-acting frequency response service procured daily by National Grid, and currently remunerated at a premium to FFR.
The Project was acquired from Gresham House DevCo Limited and Noriker Power Ltd.
Current Portfolio
The acquisition increases the total capacity of operational utility-scale battery storage projects in the Fund's investment portfolio to 425MW.
| Project | Location | MW |
| Staunch | Staffordshire | 20 |
| Rufford | Nottinghamshire | 7 |
| Lockleaze | Bristol | 15 |
| Littlebrook | Kent | 8 |
| Roundponds | Wiltshire | 20 |
| Wolverhampton | West Midlands | 5 |
| Glassenbury* | Kent | 50 |
| Cleator Moor | Cumbria | 10 |
| Red Scar | Lancashire | 49 |
| Bloxwich | West Midlands | 41 |
| Thurcroft | South Yorkshire | 50 |
| Wickham | Suffolk | 50 |
| Tynemouth | Tyne and Wear | 25 |
| Port of Tyne | Tyne and Wear | 35 |
| Nevendon | Essex | 10 |
| Byers Brae | West Lothian, Scotland | 30 |
|
|
|
|
| Total |
| 425 |
*inclusive of the 10MW extension
Ben Guest, Fund Manager and Head of Gresham House New Energy, said:
"Byers Brae adds our first operational capacity in Scotland. Its location makes it well placed to ease system constraints arising from bottlenecks in the physical network between UK wind generation in the north and power demand in the south. The facility currently provides system flexibility via National Grid's Dynamic Containment premium frequency response product."
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 6673
|
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 425MW. 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 264MW of Energy Storage Systems and approximately 290MW of predominantly ground-mounted solar projects. Gresham House Asset Management currently manages approximately 232MW 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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