SWGT and Santander announce the £12m phase one financial close of a flagship 30MW UK battery storage project
Still Waters Green Technology (“SWGT”), a leading independent battery energy storage system (“BESS”) asset manager in the UK, is pleased to announce the £12m non-recourse Phase One Financial Close with Santander UK, of a 30MW utility-scale, subsidy-free BESS asset in Swindon. It is the first project finance funding structure that has adopted a multi debt tranche approach to the tiered risk profile of the BESS revenue model. The financing, which is delivered under Santander’s Environmental & Social Growth Fund (“ESGF”) structure delivers optimal leverage against both contracted and fully merchant revenue streams to maximise debt. Coupled with its advanced Phase Two project and immediate pipeline of at least 180MW under development, SWGT is becoming one of the UK’s largest independent battery storage asset owners, developers and operators.
This pioneering project supports the growth of renewable energy sources by providing up to 65GWh of annual import and export capacity to the National Grid during its Phase One development, that is critical to meeting the UK’s carbon emission reduction target and Net Zero ambition. In addition, with its 25-container market leading Li-lon technical solution, the project provides a significant contribution to; the reduction the reserve utilisation from gas fired generators, transmission and distribution congestion and losses, and future flexibility and grid stability through participation in the capacity, frequency response and grid balancing programs.
Olivia He, chief investment officer at SWGT said: “This project is testimony to the resilience of the energy transition fuelled by innovation and a strong appetite for renewable energy from investors. Phase One establishes a solid foundation for SWGT’s growth ambition and vision to become the preeminent UK renewable energy sponsor, supporting the integration of low-carbon power generation locally and worldwide. By bringing together the leading-edge expertise of our funding partner, Santander UK, into a scalable, capital and risk efficient structure, we have created a launch pad for capital deployment into the decarbonisation, decentralisation and digitisation of the new energy market.”
Mark Cumbo, director, Specialised & Project Finance, Santander UK: “Santander is delighted to have closed this exciting project with SWGT. This agreement further demonstrates our ability to work with ambitious teams like SWGT to deliver complex and innovative funding solutions for projects that trade on a predominantly merchant basis. Battery Energy Storage is an important and fast-growing sector that we are keen to support. We look forward to working closely with Olivia and the SWGT team on future projects and positively contributing to the wider climate change agenda.”
Santander was advised by TLT LLP (legal), RSM (financial model) and Aon (insurance).
