The Gresham House Energy Storage Fund has powered a 50MW/50MWh Battery Energy Storage System (BESS) in Lancashire.
Located in Penwortham, south-west of the county capital Preston, the 1-hour BESS will be extended to 2 hours in the summer, meaning its capacity would be 50 MW/100 MWh.
With the start of this new BESS, the operational capacity of the Gresham House Energy Storage Fund has now reached 790 MW/926 MWh. The project is the fund’s 25th operational asset since its IPO.
Ben Guest, fund manager of Gresham House Energy Storage Fund plc and managing director of Gresham House New Energy, said: “Penwortham is our 25th acquisition of an operating site since the IPO. We are pleased to have reached this milestone and be able to complete projects at a steady pace, with Grendon, West Didsbury, York and now Penwortham all seeing energy in the last nine months.
“Our pipeline projects are expected to be completed, accretive to earnings and accretive to cash flow per share in 2024. Including extensions of duration of 340 MW of already operational projects, we expect to reach 1,072 MW/1,696 MWh by the end of the year reaches. We look forward to announcing further progress.”
Gresham House Energy Storage Fund revenues are starting to recover
Earlier this month, Gresham House Energy Storage Fund said revenues were starting to recover in 2024 after declines in 2023.
Company confirmed the presence of a “weak income environment” in 2023, with revenue down 38% to £38.7m (US$48m) and EBITDA down 47%, while the fund made a £110m loss compared to a £217m profit last year. The net asset value (NAV) per share fell by 17% to 129.07p.
Falling prices in the ancillary services market were the main reason why revenues for GRID and other UK BESS owners and operators fell in 2023.