US renewable energy developer Pacific Green has closed a senior debt facility of £120m ($146m) to support its 249MW/373.5 megawatt-hour Sheaf Energy Park BESS project in Kent, England.
The debt was offered by a two-bank syndicate of National Westminster Bank (NatWest) and the UK Infrastructure Bank (UKIB).
Each provided £60m to develop and build the BESS project.
The debt will be repaid on a ten-year amortisation profile from the start of commercial operations.
UKIB CEO John Flint stated: “The rapid scale-up of renewables onto the grid means the UK needs more storage capacity, and we need it fast. Our support for Pacific Green and the Sheaf Energy Park project is a great example of how UKIB’s debt financing can help accelerate large storage projects to bring them online sooner, while also providing crucial market confidence in the sector.”
To be located next to the 99.8MW Richborough Energy Park BESS project in Kent, this project will have an operating life of 35 years.
The site is scheduled to come online in 2025.
A subsidiary of Pacific Green acquired the project from Tupa Energy for £7.5m in December 2022.
The deal is part of an exclusivity agreement signed by the two companies in March 2021, under which they plan to develop 1.1GW of BESS projects in the UK.
NatWest specialist asset finance head Jacob Lloyd stated: “Pacific Green is one of the fastest-growing independent renewable energy developers, and we are excited to support them with Sheaf Energy Park and future projects to come as they continue their growth in the renewable energy sector.”
