Investor EQT Infrastructure has acquired UK clean energy and battery storage developer-operator Statera, the latest in a flurry of deals in the UK market.
The firm agreed a deal with InfraRed Capital Partners to acquire Statera Energy earlier this month (6 November). Statera, a UK-based battery energy storage and flexible energy generation developer and operator, will now gain access to growth capital to accelerate the deployment of new assets across the nation.
The developer already has 1GW of flexible generation in operation and under construction, alongside a total project pipeline of over 16GW, with plans to deliver 7.5GW of flexibility assets by 2030.
Statera’s pipeline, of projects in development or that have already been completed, includes 3GW of battery storage, 3.4GW of flexible generation, 2.1GW of pumped hydro storage and 5.6GW of hydrogen production.
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One such project is the 100MW Dollymans Storage battery asset, which is located in Essex and came online in July 2023. Late last year, the company brought online its Minety South Storage 2 project, a 50MW battery energy storage asset located in Malmesbury, Wiltshire.
EQT Infrastructure revealed that the transaction is subject to customary conditions and approvals and is expected to close around the end of the year. Once complete, the EQT Infrastructure VI fund is expected to be 20-25% invested based on the target fund size.
EQT also owns US solar and storage developer Cypress Creek Renewables, having acquired it in 2021 through its private equity arm.
Latest to trade after Banks, Zenobe and Gresham House
The acquisition of Statera by EQT is the latest in flurry of deals for developer-operators in the UK battery storage market, Europe’s largest by deployments.
Brookfield, another global infrastructure investor, bought Banks Renewables last month; private equity firm KKR acquired Zenobē in September; and asset manager Searchlight acquired Gresham House, the manager of the Gresham House Energy Storage Fund plc (GRID) and other clean energy vehicles, in July.
The same month saw Field get a US$260 million equity investment from DIF Capital Partners although this was not said to be an outright acquisition.
The ramp-up in merger and acquisition activity comes as the UK market sees falling revenues as the ancillary service market saturates, and a subsequent fall in the valuations for listed energy storage funds like GRID, as recently written in a Premium article. Energy-Storage.news was also told anecdotally that the prices that early-stage or ready-to-build (RTB) projects are selling for has fallen. Revenues picked up again in October although remain down year-on-year.
Part of this article originally appeared on Solar Power Portal.
Energy-Storage.news’ publisher Solar Media will host the 9th annual Energy Storage Summit EU in London, 21-22 February 2024. This year it is moving to a larger venue, bringing together Europe’s leading investors, policymakers, developers, utilities, energy buyers and service providers all in one place. Visit the official site for more info.
