Published: 2 Feb 2022, 10:17
TEEC said that grid scale BESS provide “one of the most effective and proven solutions to the issue of loss of electricity in transmission”. Image: Getty
Investment firm Triple Point Energy Efficiency Infrastructure Company (TEEC) has secured a £108 million pipeline of UK battery energy storage systems (BESS).
The company has been looking at a number of opportunities to invest in grid-scale energy storage systems in the UK, and has now secured the near-term pipeline of BESS under exclusivity.
The company said that with the continued rollout of renewable energy across the UK, demand for grid balancing and storage solutions is likely to stay high for a significant period of time.
“Batteries are essential to improve front of meter energy efficiency, to maximise and make use of the intermittent power from the grid scale renewables which are making up an increasingly larger proportion of the UK’s generating capacity,” John Roberts, the company’s chairman, said.
The BESS assets form part of the distributed energy segment of TEEC’s mandate, with the company investing exclusively in a diversified portfolio of energy efficiency assets in the UK which have a positive environmental impact.
Towards the end of 2021, TEEC invested £47 million across a portfolio of nine ungeared hydroelectric power assets, with a total generation capacity of 6.6MW, and earlier in 2021, TEEC invested a total of £29 million across three CHP+ assets in the form of senior debt with a weighted average return on capital of 7.65%.
Following the hydro investment, TEEC is now substantially deployed. The company is currently in the process of arranging a revolving credit facility of up to £40 million to fund the short-term pipeline and to allow greater financial flexibility going forwards.
Other battery storage developments to be announced over the past week include Bluefield Solar acquiring the development rights for its first standalone BESS, a 20MW ready-to-build project, and RES submitting a planning application for a 99.9MW battery energy storage project in County Durham.