BESS is a leading independent provider of power storage, energy security and energy flexibility services. It has secured this funding from Santander Corporate & Commercial to help it execute its strategy of becoming one of the largest independent owners and operators of battery storage assets in the UK. BESS’s short-term strategy is to build and operate a portfolio of 100MW of grid scale battery storage assets by the end of 2018.
Established in March 2017 by an executive team with extensive energy sector experience, BESS has focused on the profound market opportunities presented by the emerging battery storage market in the UK and the support needed for the broader transition of the UK’s power generation infrastructure from predominantly fossil fuel-based to a low or zero carbon base. As at the end of 2017, the company already owned and operated a 14MW portfolio of grid scale batteries either co-located with solar sites or connected directly into the distribution grid. A further 49MW of grid connected batteries will be connected and operating by the end of January 2018, bringing the total portfolio to 63MW across eight sites.
Nicholas Beatty, co-founder of BESS comments: “We are delighted to have arranged this facility with the legal advice of Burges Salmon’s energy team who have supported our business from its conception through the successful rounds of equity and debt financing, which have established the solid base of the company. We are now excited by the range of opportunities available to BESS for the development of our business and look forward to deploying our batteries and growing our portfolio.”
In addition to supporting BESS with financing from Santander, Burges Salmon has also supported BESS with the acquisition of new projects and a number of equity fundraising rounds including a key equity investment by Tiger Infrastructure Partners LP in late 2017.