Gore Street Capital is raising capital for its maiden Energy Storage Fund fund to finance a 160-megawatt battery storage portfolio in Ireland.
The portfolio comprises two 50-megawatt assets in Northern Ireland and two 30-megawatt assets in the Republic of Ireland, according to media outlets.
Construction, acquisition and other capex costs for the project are estimated to be around £77 million ($98 million).
Gore Street is looking to raise up to £50 million ($64 million) through share placement. Ireland’s National Treasury Management Agency has already invested £30 million ($38 million) in the portfolio through its sovereign wealth fund, the Ireland Strategic Investment Fund (ISIF). The fund focuses on regional developments, housing, indigenous businesses, climate change and brexit investments in Ireland, according to the ISIF website.
Gore Street has also reportedly agreed to add an additional 190 megawatts worth of energy storage projects to its portfolio, which would bring the deal up to 350 megawatts.
The investment is on track to become one of Europe’s largest energy storage acquisitions — and one of the largest of its kind globally, according to Alex O'Cinneide, Gore Street CEO.
Gore Street invests in a diversified portfolio of utility-scale energy storage projects primarily located in the United Kingdom, with some in North America and Western Europe.
As of March 31, 2019, the company's portfolio consisted of four assets in the United Kingdom: a 6-megawatt operational industrial mining site, a 4-megawatt operational renewable generation asset, the 9-megawatt Port of Tilbury facility (awaiting construction), and a 10-megawatt front-of-meter Lower Road (also to be constructed this year).