Burges Salmon’s Corporate Energy team has advised JLEN, the Foresight-advised environmental infrastructure investment fund, on the acquisition of Gigabox South Road Limited, which holds the development rights to a 50-megawatt lithium-ion battery storage project in Dundee, Scotland.
London Stock Exchange-listed JLEN will invest up to £21.2 million over the next 12-15 months in the project, also known as West Gourdie, which is fully consented with commercial operations expected to begin in March 2022. The project, once operational, is anticipated to provide local network stability either through direct balancing services to the National Grid or through wholesale trading in the power markets or the National Grid’s Balancing Mechanism.
Jonty Lovell, Investment Manager at Foresight Group - JLEN’s investment advisor, says: “The deal reflects JLEN’s ability to capitalise on new opportunities within the energy sector. There are key fundamentals drivers that support the business case for storage investments, largely driven by the level of intermittent renewable generation on the system. With the UK making a legally binding commitment to achieve ‘net zero’ by 2050, this trend is only expected to increase over the long term. The West Gourdie project marks JLEN’s third storage investment and will provide further diversification of revenue streams for the JLEN portfolio.
“Burges Salmon has provided invaluable legal support throughout the transaction, which has resulted in a very smooth process overall.”
The Burges Salmon team advising on the transaction was led by partner Camilla Usher-Clark, with support from solicitor Elena Kaltsas.
Camilla adds: “Gigabox South Road is JLEN’s third investment in a UK battery storage project, and we’re delighted to have supported the JLEN team and the fund in its efforts to drive the decarbonisation agenda, by bringing this acquisition to a successful conclusion.”