A team of energy sector experts from Burges Salmon have advised Battery Energy Storage Solutions Ltd (BESS) on a deal to secure £28.5 million of debt funding from Santander Corporate and Commercial.

BESS is a leading independent provider of power storage, energy security and energy flexibility services. It has secured this funding from Santander Corporate & Commercial to help it execute its strategy of becoming one of the largest independent owners and operators of battery storage assets in the UK. BESS’s short-term strategy is to build and operate a portfolio of 100MW of grid scale battery storage assets by the end of 2018.

The Burges Salmon team, which was led by energy partner Nathan Curtis with assistance from senior associate Ed Hobbs and associate Daniel Ballard, advised BESS on all legal aspects of the funding transaction.

Nathan Curtis says: “This transaction provides BESS with access to non-recourse debt funding for its pipeline of UK commercial scale battery projects and demonstrates what can be achieved with innovation and collaboration in the fast-growing storage sector. We are delighted to have acted for BESS and worked with Santander and its advisors to get to this point and are hugely excited about the future development of BESS’ business and the sector more generally.”

Established in March 2017 by an executive team with extensive energy sector experience, BESS has focused on the profound market opportunities presented by the emerging battery storage market in the UK and the support needed for the broader transition of the UK’s power generation infrastructure from predominantly fossil fuel-based to a low or zero carbon base. As at the end of 2017, the company already owned and operated a 14MW portfolio of grid scale batteries either co-located with solar sites or connected directly into the distribution grid. A further 49MW of grid connected batteries will be connected and operating by the end of January 2018, bringing the total portfolio to 63MW across eight sites.

Nicholas Beatty, co-founder of BESS comments: “We are delighted to have arranged this facility with the legal advice of Burges Salmon’s energy team who have supported our business from its conception through the successful rounds of equity and debt financing, which have established the solid base of the company. We are now excited by the range of opportunities available to BESS for the development of our business and look forward to deploying our batteries and growing our portfolio.”