Gore Street En. Regulatory News (GSF)

For Immediate Release 20 July 2020

Gore Street Energy Storage Fund plc

(the "Company" or "Gore Street")

Further Opportunity following Legislation Changes

Continued Momentum for the Energy Storage Sector as Maximum Project Size Raised in England and Wales

Gore Street, London's first listed energy storage fund supporting the transition to low carbon power, is pleased to note the recent legislation change to allow larger energy storage projects, above 50 MW in England and 350 MW in Wales.

The new legislation removes energy storage, except pumped hydro, from the Nationally Significant Infrastructure Projects regime in England and Wales. This means that the primary consenting route for energy storage projects above 50 MW in England or above 350 MW in Wales will be under the Town and Country Planning Act. This will allow larger projects to gain planning permission without government approval and is expected to encourage significantly greater energy storage resources on the grid at a faster rate to support higher levels of renewable generation.

Gore Street will be looking to capitalise on the positive move in the sector by taking advantage of the cost savings involved in participating in larger projects. The announcement, passed by ministers on 14 July 2020 could see the number of battery storage projects on the grid triple, according to the Department of Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) as reported in trade press.

The secondary legislation has been brought about by the increased number of active intermittent renewable energy assets across England and Wales, highlighting the increasing need for energy storage systems to balance the grid.

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

"This is a very exciting time for Gore Street, we have already upgraded assets in exclusivity to a larger size as a reaction to this change. We will be looking for opportunities, subject to projects meeting our returns criteria and the availability of the necessary finance, to participate in these larger projects since this would enable us to scale up faster and achieve economies of scale to play our part in the transition to intermittent renewable energy sources. Already, the largest portfolio available to a public investor, this policy move will help us to scale up faster than previously anticipated to an even larger portfolio to create additional value for the Company's shareholders.

It's great to see further government support for an infrastructure asset class that is instrumental to the future of national energy security in the UK which Gore Street is ideally placed to capitalise upon as the known experts and first movers in the market. As announced previously, we have a very active pipeline of potential acquisitions that we look forward to updating investors shortly on following our recent successful capital raise from new and existing investors."

For further information:

Media enquiries

JTC (UK) Limited, Company Secretary Tel: +44 (0) 20 7409 0181

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. For the last fiscal year ending in March 2020, Gore Street has paid/announced 7.0 pence per ordinary share in accordance with target. Dividends were paid quarterly and Company expects to continue paying on a quarterly basis.