15 January 2025
Gresham House Energy Storage
Fund plc
("GRID" or the
"Company")
Energisation of 100MW /
100MWh Melksham project, GRID's largest project to
date
Gresham House Energy Storage Fund
plc (LSE: GRID), the UK's largest fund investing in utility-scale
battery energy storage systems (BESS), is
pleased to announce that it has energised its Melksham project, a
100MW / 100MWh BESS[1] near Bath ("Melksham").
Further plans to double Melksham's
battery capacity to 100MW / 200MWh are underway, with the extension
to be carried out in two stages (50MWh at a time) and to be
completed by the end of Q1 2025.
Melksham is the largest
capacity operational project in the GRID portfolio and its
energisation takes operational capacity to 945MW / 1,307MWh and
945MW / 1407MWh once augmented to a 2-hour duration.
Ben
Guest, Fund Manager of Gresham House Energy Storage Fund plc &
Managing Director of Gresham House New Energy,
said:
"We continue to efficiently increase
capacity by energising new projects while also augmenting the
duration of others. Melksham follows Elland's commissioning
in Q4 2024, as well as the augmentations of Arbroath, Penwortham,
Enderby, West Didsbury and Nevendon throughout 2024. Melksham is
now the largest operational project in our portfolio. Its
augmentation during Q1 2025, which will double battery capacity to
200MWh, will make it the UK's largest BESS project connected to a
Distribution Network Operator (DNO) operated network.
"The improved trading conditions we
announced earlier this month, particularly with last week's wind
lull and cold spell putting strain on existing UK generation
capacity, reinforce the benefit of rolling out further battery
storage capacity.
"As previously highlighted, we also
expect to complete the commissioning of our 40MW, 2-hour duration
Shilton Lane project, next month."
For
further information, please contact:
|
Gresham House New Energy
Ben Guest
James Bustin
Harry Hutchinson
|
+44 (0)20 3837 6270
|
|
Jefferies International Limited
Stuart Klein
Gaudi Le Roux
Harry Randall
|
+44 (0)20 7029 8000
|
|
KL
Communications
Charles Gorman
Charlotte Francis
Effie Aye-Maung-Hider
|
gh@kl-communications.com
+44 (0)20 3882 6644
|
|
JTC
(UK) Limited as Company Secretary
Christopher Gibbons
|
GHEnergyStorageCoSec@jtcgroup.com
+44 (0)20 7409 0181
|
LEI: 213800MSJXKH25C23D82
About the Company and the Manager:
Gresham House Energy Storage Fund
plc seeks to provide investors with an attractive and sustainable
dividend over the long term by investing in a diversified portfolio
of utility-scale battery energy storage systems (known as BESS)
located in Great Britain and internationally. In addition, the
Company seeks to provide investors with the prospect of capital
growth through the re-investment of net cash generated in excess of
the target dividend in accordance with the Company's investment
policy.
The Company targets an unlevered Net
Asset Value total return of 8% per annum and a levered Net Asset
Value total return of 15% per annum, in each case calculated net of
the Company's costs and expenses.
Gresham House Asset Management is
the FCA authorised operating business of Gresham House Ltd, a
specialist alternative asset manager. Gresham House is committed to
operating responsibly and sustainably, taking the long view in
delivering sustainable investment solutions.
http://www.greshamhouse.com/
Definition of utility-scale battery energy storage systems
(BESS)
Utility-scale battery energy storage
systems (BESS) 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.
