REG - Gore Street Energy - Improved GB Revenue and Energisation of Big Rock

Gore Street Energy Storage FundAnnouncement

21/01/2025 07:00

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RNS Number : 0278U  Gore Street Energy Storage Fund PLC  21 January 2025

21(st) January 2025

Gore Street Energy Storage Fund plc

(the "Company" or "GSF")

Improved GB Revenue and Successful Energisation of Big Rock (200 MW/400 MWh US
Asset)

 

Gore Street Energy Storage Fund plc, the internationally diversified energy
storage fund, is pleased to announce a portfolio update and the energisation
of "Big Rock" - the 200 MW / 400 MWh asset in California - bringing the
Company's total energised capacity to 621.4 MW / 792.1 MWh across five grids.

Trading and Portfolio Update:

For the calendar year ending 31 December 2024, the Company is estimating an
operational portfolio revenue of c.£37.7m (weighted portfolio average:
c.£10.83/MW/hr)(1) and an operational EBITDA of c.£24.5m representing an
EBITDA margin of 65%.

Based on the 2025/26 mid-case NAV revenue forecasts from several third-party
providers, the annualised 12-month portfolio revenue run-rate during FY
2025/26 is estimated(2) at c.£72m on 753.4 MW of operational capacity. The
operational EBITDA margin(3) for this period is expected to be 69%, a 4%
increase compared to the 2024 calendar year largely due to improved economies
of scale as the new larger Great Britain (GB) assets stabilise. The increase
in revenue to £12.32/MW/hr can be attributed to the Company's increased
geographic diversification following assets in construction becoming
operational, resulting in a greater proportion of assets in higher-yielding
markets.

Since the start of the current financial year(4), GB revenue has steadily
increased over recent periods. Market indices (Modo 1-hour BESS Index)
indicate that December 2024 was the highest monthly revenue for BESS in the GB
market since July 2023. Dynamic Containment saw its highest average price
since July 2023, a sign of the recovery of ancillary services prices in GB,
reflecting a slower build-out, along with more competitive bidding strategies
in the market.

The Investment Manager has also developed an in-house route-to-market
capability and to-date has onboarded five GB assets with a combined capacity
totalling 78.5 MW. Since November 2024, the GSET portfolio(5) has outperformed
the Modo 1-hour BESS benchmark by 19.0%.

Successful Energisation of US Asset, Big Rock:

The "Big Rock" project in California is now energised, representing a 47%
increase in the Company's energised capacity, which now stands at 621.4 MW /
792.1 MWh. Big Rock is the Company's largest asset to date, with a capacity of
200 MW / 400 MWh.

As previously announced, the Big Rock project has secured a 12-year
fixed-price Resource Adequacy (RA) contract, which has a value of over $165
million over the contract life. The RA is stackable, enabling the asset to
participate in multiple revenue streams concurrently. RA revenue will commence
in June 2025, but the asset is expected to start generating merchant revenue
in advance of June.

The Big Rock project is expected to receive an investment tax credit (ITC) of
up to 30% of qualifying capital expenditures under the Inflation Reduction
Act. The Investment Manager is currently engaging with several counterparties
to monetise these credits alongside those available for the Dogfish project.
The pricing for these ITCs, based on numerous term sheets received, have
remained in line with expectations and previous guidance to-date, signifying
market confidence in these tax credits.

Construction Update:

Construction continues to progress well at Dogfish, the 75 MW / 75 MWh asset
in Texas, with all major cabling works complete. The asset remains on track
for energisation in February. A delay in energising Enderby, the 57 MW / 57
MWh asset in GB, is attributable to last-minute transformer inspection
requirements imposed by National Grid Electricity Transmission (NGET). The
Company, working alongside its suppliers, are pushing to have it energised
promptly, with the next scheduled window for energisation expected in the
coming weeks. Once these two remaining assets in the Company's focused
pipeline are energised, the Company's energised portfolio will be 753.4 MW /
924.1 MWh across five grids.

Factsheets:

The Company produces a monthly factsheet, in addition to quarterly updates, to
communicate developments from across its portfolio and markets in which it
operates. The publications, including the December factsheet released today,
are available on the Company's website here
(https://www.gsenergystoragefund.com/content/investors/factsheet) .

 

Alex O'Cinneide, CEO of Gore Street Capital, the Investment Manager of the
Company, commented:

"I am pleased to announce the energisation of the Big Rock project in
California, marking our successful entry into a fifth energy market and a more
than doubling of energised capacity across the portfolio on a MWh basis. With
the recent 12-year Resource Adequacy contract secured, the portfolio now
benefits from significant contracted income and has surpassed 620 MW / 792 MWh
of energised capacity. This achievement reflects our commitment to executing
against our mandate, made possible through leveraging our in-house expertise
with dedicated teams for construction, asset management and
route-to-market/optimisation. Our active approach to optimising an asset's
revenue stack has tangible benefits for the portfolio, as illustrated by the
revenue outperformance of the internally managed assets in GB. Overall, we are
happy to see recent material uplifts in revenue across the GB market. We are
also pleased to see such strong interest in the sale of the ITCs in the US,
with multiple counterparties bidding.

The energised portfolio is expected to soon reach the targeted capacity of
753.4 MW / 924.1 MWh, with the upcoming energisation of Enderby and Dogfish.
As such, we expect the portfolio to generate increased revenue and the
resulting free cash flow available to support dividend cover."

 

1.    Based on an average operational capacity of 396.85 MW.

2.    The c.£72 m revenue accounts for the Company's percentage ownership
of the assets.

3.    This estimate is based on current market conditions as of the date of
this announcement only and is not a profit forecast. There can be no assurance
that this target will be met. This target and the other targets described in
this announcement should not be taken as an indication of GSF's expected or
actual current or future EBITDA.

4.    The Company's financial year commenced in April 2024.

5.    Gore Street Energy Trading (GSET): The Port of Tilbury asset is
excluded from this revenue comparison as revenue data access is delayed due to
the asset's commercial structure.

 

For further information: 

 

Gore Street Capital Limited          

Alex O'Cinneide / Paula Travesso / Ben Paulden 

Email: ir@gorestreetcap.com
(https://gorestreetcap01-my.sharepoint.com/personal/bpaulden_gorestreetcap_com/Documents/ir@gorestreetcap.com)
 
 
Tel: +44 (0) 20 3826 0290 

 

Shore Capital (Joint Corporate Broker)   

Anita Ghanekar / Sophie Collins (Corporate Advisory)
 
 Tel: +44 (0) 20 7408 4090 

Fiona Conroy (Corporate Broking)             

 

J.P. Morgan Cazenove (Joint Corporate
Broker)

William Simmonds / Jérémie Birnbaum (Corporate
Finance)                               Tel: +44
(0) 20 3493 8000 

 

Burson Buchanan (Media Enquiries)       

Charles Ryland / Henry Wilson / Samuel
Adams
   Tel: +44 (0) 20 7466 5000 

Email: gorestreet@buchanan.uk.com (mailto:gorestreet@buchanan.uk.com)  

 

Notes to Editors 

 

About Gore Street Energy Storage Fund plc 

Gore Street is London's first listed and internationally diversified energy
storage fund dedicated to the low-carbon transition. It seeks to provide
Shareholders with sustainable returns from their investment in a diversified
portfolio of utility-scale energy storage projects. In addition to growth
through increasing operational capacity and a considerable pipeline, the
Company aims to deliver consistent and robust dividend yield as income
distributions to its Shareholders. 

 

https://www.gsenergystoragefund.com (https://www.gsenergystoragefund.com/)  

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