• Fotowatio Renewable Ventures (FRV) has completed the simultaneous financial close of its battery energy storage (BESS) projects, Contego and Clay Tye, with the latter being one of the largest BESS in the UK.
  • The USD $75 million (UK £61 million) financing of the BESS projects was carried out by Natixis CIB UK.
  • The transaction is a major milestone for FRV as it is the largest project finance executed on a full merchant battery portfolio in Europe to date.

Fotowatio Renewable Ventures (FRV), a leading developer of sustainable energy solutions, and part of Abdul Latif Jameel Energy, has completed the financial close for two of its battery energy storage projects (BESS), Contego and Clay Tye, located in the United Kingdom in West Sussex and Essex.

The transaction is a major milestone for FRV as it is the largest project finance executed on a full merchant battery portfolio in Europe to date. The financing was carried out by Natixis CIB UK under the project finance modality, with an amount reaching USD $75 million (UK £61 million), more than 60% of the cost of the projects.

With an output of 99 MW, Clay Tye has a capacity of 198 MWh, using 52 Tesla Megapack lithium-ion batteries and is one of the largest BESS projects in the UK. Contego, meanwhile, uses 28 Tesla Megapack batteries and has an output of 34 MW and a capacity of 68 MWh. In total, FRV already has more than 5 GW of battery storage projects under development in the UK.

Fady Jameel, Deputy President and Vice Chairman, Abdul Latif Jameel said:

“Reaching this financial close marks another milestone in our commitment to developing the UK’s renewable energy sector and supporting the realization of the country’s ambitions towards reaching net zero emissions by 2050. This significant achievement further promotes our position as a trusted partner that is leading the sector’s transformation around the world, while we make impressive progress in expanding our portfolio of BESS projects in the UK and globally.”

David Menéndez, Managing Director of FRV UK said:

“The financial closing of this portfolio adds another milestone to our growth objective in the UK’s BESS market, strengthening the sustainability of the business model in the long term and promoting our position as leaders in this industry.”

Pascal Soldaini, Managing Director and Head of the Infrastructure & Energy Finance of Natixis CIB UK, comments:

“One of the focuses of Natixis CIB strategy is to finance the energy transition and increase our Green Loan origination, while supporting our core clients. BESS are a requirement to be able to reach the UK decarbonization objectives, as they will allow further penetration of renewable energy in the UK energy mix while partially addressing the structural imbalances in the UK grid. This transaction is an example of innovative financing structured by Natixis and adjusted to BESS business model. It is another illustration of our close collaboration with FRV, an international leader in sustainable energy production as well as a proven successful BESS manager. We are keen to support this growing BESS sector, with an initial focus on the UK, Australia, the US and Europe”.

During 2022, Contego and Holes Bay, two of FRV’s battery plants in the UK, have been the best performing battery assets in the country according to the data analysis monitoring tool Modo Energy.

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