Gore Street Energy Fund PLC snaps up 80MW project in Milton Keynes

Gore Street Energy Storage Fund PLC (), has acquired what it says is one of the largest single industrial battery assets in the UK.

The site is an 80MW construction-ready project in Milton Keynes and Gore Street will spend £30mln on capital expenditure over the next 12 to 15 months.

Operations are scheduled to start in the first quarter of 2023 and Gore Street expects the project to generate a rate of return of between 10-12%.

In addition, the fund said it had secured exclusivity on a further 300MW of assets in the UK, where capital expenditure would also be staggered over a 12-18 month period in most cases.

In total, GSF said it now has over 1.0GW in its pipeline across the UK, Europe and North America.

Alex O’Cinneide, CEO of Gore Street Capital, the company’s Investment Manager, added: “We are very pleased to announce the acquisition of this exceptionally high-quality 80MW construction-ready project in the UK, which adds one of the UK’s largest assets planned for development to our leading portfolio of energy storage assets.

“At 520MW, this is the largest portfolio available to a financial investor and one which has the youngest portfolio of assets, and most cost-effective acquisition history in the market.

“The company believes that GSF’s installed cost per MW is close to half that of the closest peer that we have analysed.

“Gore Street’s 300MW in exclusivity represents an extraordinary opportunity for the company to acquire nationally significant energy storage assets in the UK at a competitive price.”

Elsewhere, Gore Street added that Ireland’s extension of certain contracts until April 2024 should mean significant additional revenue for all four of its sites based there, including Mullavilly and Drumkee that have been operational since March 2021.