UK battery storage developer, Eelpower, has secured an agreement for debt funding with Gravis Capital to grow its pipeline of permitted storage sites and pursue new development opportunities in the UK.
The financing agreement with Eelpower is being made through the GCP Asset Backed Income Fund, an investment company advised by Gravis, which focuses on providing financing supported by physical assets and long-term cash flows.
Gravis has extended a £20 million financing facility to aid the company’s plans to build, own and operate a fleet of grid-connected batteries, according to Eelpower.
Mark Simon , Chief Executive of Eelpower, said: “The Gravis investment in Eelpower’s battery storage business underlines the scale and investment strength of our current portfolio, and the growth potential of Eelpower and indeed the battery storage market in the UK.”
Gravis’ decision to support Eelpower follows the November 2017 commissioning of Eelpower’s 10MW Leverton battery storage facility near Lincoln, and March 2018 announcement that it had co-located battery units at two low-head river hydro schemes in Yorkshire – owned and operated by its sister company Barn Energy.
The Leverton storage facility was Eelpower’s first storage project to be commissioned in the UK – the company secured a Firm Frequency Response contract from National Grid in October 2017, and had already entered into a fifteen-year T-4 Capacity Market contract starting in October 2020.
Philip Kent of Gravis said: “We are delighted to have completed the financing arrangement with Eelpower to enable the company to continue to develop its pipeline.”