NextEnergy Solar Fund (NESF) has sought approval from its investors to commit more funding to battery storage. The fund wants to amend its existing investment policy to increase the investment in standalone energy storage from 10% up to 25% of the gross asset value.
In Q2 2023 NESF is planning to energise a 50MW 1-hour standalone battery adjacent to the Gleniston substation in Scotland, which it said is well placed to benefit from volatility driven by high Scottish wind capacity. Project rights have been acquired for a 250MW 2-hour battery in Norfolk adjacent to the Walpole substation, a key onshore hub for the Race Bank, Lincs and Inner Dowsing offshore wind farms.
NESF will expand its joint venture with Eelpower, which will provide EPC and ongoing specialist asset management services and will source further acquisition opportunities.
Eelpower’s in-house ‘Eel-Dispatch’ control, data and risk management platform will help stack revenues from the day-ahead, intraday, balancing, capacity and ancillary service markets, with batteries expected to cycle over 700 times per year.
The investment would be in addition to batteries that are ancillary to or co-located with solar PV assets owned by the Company.
In co-located solar batteries, NESF now has a co- retrofit programme across its UK portfolio of 91 solar assets, with existing grid connections, and investment committee approval for 20MW of battery projects.
The first site for a co-located battery is the 11MW North Norfolk solar farm, where planning permission has been secured for a 6MWh/12MWh battery. Planning applications are in progress at four more sites and three others are seeking grid capacity. Other sites will be reviewed periodically as grid connections become available. The Fund said it was also looking at ‘behind the meter’ co-located installations.
The Fund currently has $3.3 billion of assets under management.