Gore Street Energy Storage has published results for the year ended 31 March 2022. Over that period, the fund more than doubled in size (and the recent £150m fundraise makes it larger still) and the NAV total return was 13%. The return to shareholders was 11%. Dividends totalling 7.0p per share were declared in line with target and the company says that the dividend was covered 1.09x.
By the end of the financial year, the portfolio had increased to 628.5MW from 380MW a year earlier. 37% of the portfolio was operational and 63% under construction/pre-construction. Operational assets producing income increased to 12 projects, with a total capacity of 231.7 MW.
All operational GB assets showed strong performance for the period: The average revenue per MW for the fiscal year was over 68% higher than the 2021 fiscal year average and 18.3% higher than internally forecasted for the period.
During the period, the company acquired 158.9 MW of energy storage projects across England and Germany of which 22.0 MW are currently operational. Both construction assets (Stony 79.9 MW and Enderby 57.0 MW) have target commission dates in 2023. The company also secured the right to expand its Kilmannock project in the Republic of Ireland, resulting in a total 248.9 MW increase in its total portfolio capacity as of 31 March 2022.
Enderby 57.0 MW represents the company’s first asset connected to National Grid’s main transmission network. This means that Enderby will operate without an intermediary distribution network operator, potentially reducing capital and operating expenditure. The acquisition of the 22.0 MW operational projects in Cremzow, Germany, represents the company’s first acquisition in Mainland Europe.
The expansion of the Kilmannock site by 90.0 MW follows the 60.0 MW expansion grant for Porterstown and increases the Company’s portfolio capacity in the Republic from 60.0 MW (on acquisition in July 2019) to 210.0 MW. The initial 30.0 MW phase of development at Porterstown recently became fully energised. The next phase of that expansion is expected to be operational by 2024. However, global supply chain issues could mean delays in the timeline for Kilmannock.
Gore Street has acquired 39.8 MW of energy storage projects in the ERCOT (the Electric Reliability Council of Texas) market in Texas, United States with rights to acquire an additional 40 MW upon satisfaction of the terms of its purchase agreement. 29.9 MW of the ERCOT assets (Synder, Westover and Sweetwater) are operational (2-hour duration). The remaining 9.9 MW (Mineral Wells) is in its pre-construction phase with operation targeted by the end of 2023.
Pipeline
The investment manager intends to further diversify its investment pipeline with acquisitions in Western Europe and North America, GB, and Australia. Its investment pipeline currently stands at 1.57 GW of energy storage assets with the capacity to deliver 3.24 GWh. Currently, the manager is actively engaged in exclusive negotiations for projects totalling 495.0 MW with the capacity to deliver 980.0 MW of power per hour.
GSF : A year of significant growth for Gore Street