Energy storage owner-operator BW ESS has signed an agreement to acquire the remaining stake in Penso Power.
Financial details of the deal have not been divulged.
The move follows BW ESS’s strategic investment and development partnership with Penso Power in 2021. BW ESS was the largest shareholder of Penso.
The founders of Penso Power will become shareholders and members of the senior management team of the merged entity.
The integration of Penso Power into BW ESS will merge their engineering, project delivery and commercial capabilities, aiming to enhance the value of utility-scale energy storage worldwide.
With a team of thirty employees, BW ESS will manage the entire lifecycle of energy storage projects, from development to operation, with a long-term ownership approach.
BW ESS's current assets include operational projects in Sweden and more than one gigawatt-hour of projects under construction in the UK, Sweden and Australia.
The acquisition adds Penso Power's substantial pipeline of more than 2GW in the UK and Australia, bringing BW ESS's total pipeline to 5GW across various territories.
The two companies are presently building the 100MW/331 megawatt-hour Bramley battery energy storage system project in Hampshire, UK, expected to be energised in the fourth quarter of 2024. A seven-year tolling agreement was also recently signed with Shell Energy Europe.
BW ESS CEO Erik Strømsø stated: “We have worked closely with Penso Power since 2021 and already view them as trusted colleagues. Our teams have together entered new markets and pioneered innovative energy storage solutions.
“The combination of Penso’s pioneering development and engineering expertise with our global corporate platform creates substantial synergies and is a natural next step that readies us for continued growth and investment in a rapidly evolving global energy storage landscape.”
BW ESS and Penso Power have brought UK projects at Hams Hall and Berkswell to a ready-to-build stage. With partner ACL Energy, they are developing three projects in Italy.
Penso Power CEO Richard Thwaites stated: “Penso Power is proud to be a pioneer in grid-scale energy storage since 2017. We delivered Europe’s first 100MW project at Minety in 2020, a project that also secured the first revenue floor contract for a large grid-scale battery asset.
“Our partnership with BW ESS since 2021 has enabled us to build out the Penso Power team and enter new markets in Italy and Australia.
“This transaction completes the evolution of the Penso Power business to become part of a global energy storage platform. Working as one team, we’ll leverage our combined skillsets and experience to capitalise on new and emerging opportunities across global energy storage.”
