Statera Energy has secured up to £300m of debt financing it will invest in delivering a 400MW energy storage system project in Essex, England.
The first £144m phase of the financing will be used to deliver Statera’s 300MW/600 megawatt hour (MWh) Thurrock Battery Energy Storage System (BESS).
The balance of the financing will fund the development of a 270MW flexible generation plant which secured a capacity market contract early this year.
The debt financing was arranged through a syndicate led by Lloyds Bank.
The Thurrock BESS project, near Greater London, is the first stage of Statera’s wider Thurrock development plans to enter construction.
Statera has already secured consent for a total of 900MW of energy storage and flexible generation assets at the site, classified by the UK Government as a Nationally Significant Infrastructure Project.
Statkraft provided a long-term revenue floor that supported the financing of the deal.
This builds on Statera and Statkraft’s strategic partnership of over 1GW of contracted capacity.
The successful financing of the Thurrock BESS project is the latest in a series of milestones for Statera, which recently secured funding from Swedish Private Equity firm, EQT Infrastructure.
It marks the next phase of the company’s growth as it progresses its project pipeline of over 16GW, of which 7.5GW is expected to be operational by 2030.
Statera’s chief executive and founder, Tom Vernon, said: “Lloyds’ commitment to Statera, through one of the largest battery storage debt financing deals in the UK to date, is testament to the quality of our projects.
“Our Thurrock BESS project is strategically located near to Greater London providing further energy system resilience to this key demand centre.
“System flexibility in the form of energy storage technologies is a crucial part of achieving energy security, decarbonising our power system, and enabling the UK’s transition towards net zero.
“We are delighted to have worked with Lloyds, the syndicate of lenders, and Statkraft in achieving this significant milestone.”