TIDMGRID
RNS Number : 6904S
Gresham House Energy Storage Fund
07 November 2019
NOT FOR RELEASE, PUBLICATION OR DISTRIBUTION, IN WHOLE OR IN
PART, DIRECTLY OR INDIRECTLY, IN OR INTO, THE UNITED STATES,
AUSTRALIA, CANADA, JAPAN, SOUTH AFRICA OR ANY OTHER JURISDICTION
WHERE IT IS UNLAWFUL TO DISTRIBUTE THIS ANNOUNCEMENT.
7 November 2019
Gresham House Energy Storage Fund PLC
Factsheet publication and quarterly NAV update
Gresham House Energy Storage Fund Plc (LSE: GRID) (the "Fund")
announces that its NAV as at 30 September 2019 was 99.19 pence per
share.
The factsheet for the period ended 30 September 2019 is
available at:
http://newenergy.greshamhouse.com/esfplc/
Extracted text of the commentary is set out below:
NAV update & financial highlights
The Fund completed further placings during July (GBP15.3m) and
October (GBP41.6m), adding significant firepower for the pipeline
acquisitions, and the Fund has reached its IPO milestone of issuing
at least 200m new shares. The NAV is slightly down on a total
return basis for the quarter. This has been impacted by operational
downtime while planned project upgrade works were underway. The
upgrades are expected to deliver higher future revenues from
trading and asset optimisation activities and are expected to be
largely complete by year end.
There has been some very important news with the announcement of
the reinstatement of EU State Aid approval for the UK Capacity
Market regime on 24 October 2019. This was suspended in November
2018 following a successful judicial review claim in the European
Court of Justice. The State Aid approval process has now been fully
completed. This has obvious implications for the Fund, namely
reducing the uncertainty associated with the valuation of our
projects and securing long-term contracted revenues associated with
these contracts. Our 15-year Capacity Market contracts have start
dates between October 2019 and October 2021. Back payments should
be made on existing contracts. The UK Government is expected to
formalise this - the exact timescale is not known exactly.
Portfolio activity & market outlook
Our focus is rapidly turning to 2020 when we are targeting a
higher dividend of 7p per share and rising thereafter. Contributing
to our ability to meet this level of dividend is the timely
deployment of the funds we have raised. The 49MW Red Scar project
(acquisition announced 21 October 2019) is well progressed, and
pipeline projects Wickham and Thurcroft (each 50MW) should begin
pre-construction phases in the coming days, with the Fund expecting
to enter into sale and purchase agreements in the near future.
A crucial factor that supports the case for, at one end,
reducing downside risk and at the other creating the potential for
outperformance, is the ability to acquire additional pipeline
(including the projects named above) at improving valuations. We
have, so far, acquired projects at an IRR of c.12%. However,
looking forward, the scale of the Fund combined with fundamentals
in the battery market is leading to falling project costs. This is
leading to higher yielding projects which should also benefit from
an NPV uplift if the Fund's projects' valuations are driven by a
12% discount rate.
Finally, as this is a merchant business model, we are pleased
that the backdrop for energy storage continues to improve. We are
increasingly confident in the ability of several parties to deliver
improving trading returns, and the black-out of August 2019 appears
to have led to a bottoming out of the FFR price which has now
increased significantly since the lows seen earlier this year.
Current portfolio
Project Location MW Site type Commissioning
Staunch Staffordshire 20 Battery and generators, Operational
0.5MW import
----------------- --- ------------------------ --------------
Rufford Nottinghamshire 7 Battery and generators, Operational
symmetrical
----------------- --- ------------------------ --------------
Lockleaze Bristol 15 Battery, symmetrical Operational
----------------- --- ------------------------ --------------
Littlebrook Kent 8 Battery, symmetrical Operational
----------------- --- ------------------------ --------------
Roundponds Wiltshire 20 Battery and generators, Operational
10MW import
----------------- --- ------------------------ --------------
Wolverhampton West Midlands 5 Battery, symmetrical Operational
--------------- ----------------- --- ------------------------ --------------
Total 75
---------------------------------- --- ------------------------ --------------
Pipeline
Project (1) Location MW Site type Commissioning
(2)
Wickham Market Suffolk 50 Battery, 40MW Expected Q1
import 2020
----------------- ---- --------------------- --------------
Red Scar (3) Lancashire 49 Battery, symmetrical Expected Q4
2019
----------------- ---- --------------------- --------------
Littlebrook Kent 5 Battery, symmetrical Expected Q1
2 (extension)(4) 2020
----------------- ---- --------------------- --------------
Thurcroft South Yorkshire 50 Battery, symmetrical Expected Q1
2020
----------------- ---- --------------------- --------------
Total 154
-------------------------------------- ---- --------------------- --------------
(1) All pipeline projects are owned by Gresham House Group and
exclusivity over the projects has been granted in favour of the
Fund;
(2) Expected commissioning dates are indicative only and based
on conversations with relevant Distribution Network Operators
(DNOs); and
(3) Red Scar will be acquired once commissioned/operational.
(4) Remains subject to planning consent.
For further information, please contact:
Gresham House New Energy
Ben Guest +44 (0) 20 3837 6270
Lizzie Darbourne +44 (0) 20 3903 5562
Cantor Fitzgerald Europe
Richard Harris +44 (0) 20 7894 8229
Robert Peel +44 (0) 20 7894 7719
Alan Ray +44 (0) 20 7894 8590
KL Communications gh@kl-communications.com
Charles Gorman +44 (0) 20 3995 6673
Alex Hogan +44 (0) 203 995 6671
Notes:
Gresham House Energy Storage Fund PLC (GRID or the "Fund") seeks
to capitalise on the growing intraday supply and demand imbalances
caused by Great Britain's ever-increasing reliance on renewable
energy. The Fund aims to provide investors with an attractive and
sustainable dividend by investing in a portfolio of utility-scale
Energy Storage Systems ("ESS") located in Great Britain, which use
batteries and sometimes generators to import and export power,
accessing multiple revenue sources within the power market.
The Fund targets a Net Asset Value (NAV) total return of 8.0%+
per annum, once the Fund is fully invested, before leverage and net
of Fund expenses, and a minimum target dividend of 7.0p per
Ordinary Share (1),(2). Returns are not correlated to the absolute
level of wholesale power prices and are not dependent on any
subsidies.
(1). this is a target only and not a profit forecast. There can
be no assurance that this target will be met or that the Fund will
make any distributions at all. This target return should not be
taken as an indication of the Fund's expected or actual current or
future results. The Fund's actual return will depend upon a number
of factors, including but not limited to the Fund's net income and
the Fund's ongoing charges figure. Potential investors should
decide for themselves whether or not the return is reasonable and
achievable in deciding whether to invest in the Fund.
(2). 4.5p+ per Ordinary Share in the first year
This information is provided by RNS, the news service of the
London Stock Exchange. RNS is approved by the Financial Conduct
Authority to act as a Primary Information Provider in the United
Kingdom. Terms and conditions relating to the use and distribution
of this information may apply. For further information, please
contact rns@lseg.com or visit www.rns.com.
END
NAVBSBDBGBGBGCR
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
November 07, 2019 09:14 ET (14:14 GMT)
Gresham House Energy Sto... (LSE:GRID)
Historical Stock Chart
From Apr 2024 to May 2024
Gresham House Energy Sto... (LSE:GRID)
Historical Stock Chart
From May 2023 to May 2024