Gore Street En. Regulatory News (GSF)

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 24 November 2020

Gore Street Energy Storage Fund plc

(the "Company" or "Gore Street")

Energisation of 50MW Irish Project

100MW of Irish portfolio expected to be operational in Q1 2021

Gore Street, London's first listed energy storage fund supporting the transition to low carbon power, is pleased to announce the energisation on schedule of its Drumkee project, a 50MW installed capacity project located in Northern Ireland. Drumkee is now the largest energy storage project in Ireland and will contribute significantly towards local climate changes goals.

Mullavilly, Gore Street's second 50MW project located in Northern Ireland is expected to be energised in December. Both Drumkee and Mullavilly ("the Projects") are expected to be commissioned and operational in Q1 2021. This would bring Gore Street's operational portfolio to a total installed capacity of 210MW. Notwithstanding the COVID lockdown and severe restrictions on movement, both Project completion dates currently remain on schedule and budget.

The DS3 contracts available for these assets underpin attractive return profiles which are expected to exceed the Company's 10% unlevered target IRR for portfolio assets.

Gore Street has partnered with Low Carbon to jointly own and operate the Projects. The successful energisation of the Drumkee site has been achieved due to the combined efforts of Gore Street, Low Carbon SONI, Northern Ireland Electricity Networks, G2 Energy, NEC and SMA.

Alex O'Cinneide, CEO of Gore Street Capital, the Company's investment manager, commented:

"We are delighted to announce the energisation of Drumkee, the largest energy storage asset on the national electricity grid, an important milestone for local climate change goals. Both this asset and Mullavilly which remains anticipated to be energised in December, will benefit from highly attractive DS3 contracts and from a highly attractive return profile.

Gore Street has always had an active approach to managing our portfolio assets with a pipeline of projects under development. We believe this asset demonstrates the Company's sector leading expertise in the process of taking an important project through the complex development cycle to energisation, creating local jobs, developing critical grid infrastructure and generating value for our shareholders."

Roy Bedlow, Chief Executive and Founder of Low Carbon said: "This landmark project will increase Northern Ireland's battery storage network by 50MW and forms part of Low Carbon's pledge to deliver renewable energy at scale. Often overlooked, battery storage paves the way for a renewable-powered future.

With an advanced pipeline of more than 4GW, enough to power 1.2 million homes, we look forward to building on this commitment and working with more organisations, such as Gore Street Energy Storage Fund, on the journey to climate neutrality".

The Legal Entity Identifier of the Company is 213800GPUNVGG81G4O21.

For further information:

 Notes to Editors

About Gore Street Energy Storage Fund plc

Gore Street is London's first listed energy storage fund and seeks to provide Shareholders with a significant opportunity to invest in a diversified portfolio of utility scale energy storage projects. In addition to growth through exploiting its considerable pipeline, the Company aims to deliver consistent and robust dividend yield as income distributions to its Shareholders. 

The Company targets an annual dividend of 7.0% of NAV per Ordinary Share in each financial year, subject to a minimum target of 7.0 pence per Ordinary Share. Dividends are paid quarterly.

https://www.gsenergystoragefund.com

Mullavilly and Drumkee Project

Gore Street acquired a 51% interest in Mullavilly and Drumkee from Low Carbon in 2019. GSF is funding all required capex via shareholder loan and carrying a 10/9% interest rate. Once the shareholder loan if fully paid, GSF will split the excess profit the 49% with the developer Low Carbon.

Both Projects anticipate revenues from the "DS3" or "Delivery Secure Sustainable Electricity System" Programme as well as the Irish Capacity Remuneration Mechanism and wholesale revenues (the latter, after the end of DS3 services).