Gore Street Energy Storage Fund Plc, London’s first listed energy storage fund for assets that support the transition to low carbon power announces completion of construction of one of its many international projects, the currently limited impact of COVID-19 on operations and confirmation of its commitment to the annual dividend.
Further Operational Asset
Lower Road, a 10MW capacity front of the meter project in Essex and 100% owned by the Company, is now fully operational and delivering storage and frequency services under its contract. Lower Road is the Company’s single largest operational asset. Lower Road uses NEC Energy Solutions and Nippon Koei supplied equipment and system. It is operated using Origami‘s technology platform.
COVID-19 Update
During this evolving and unprecedented crisis, the health and safety of all employees, Company stakeholders and their staff have and will continue to be of primary importance.
All operational assets continue to function as expected and deliver a continuous source of revenue to the Company despite the global impacts of Covid-19. Gore Street’s operational assets require minimal human intervention, with typically no staff on site, and therefore there has been no significant impact at the current time. Energy storage assets continue to provide a critical service to the grid in maintaining its stability.
For sites under construction, we are suspending work from the end of this week in line with UK government direction for public safety. At this time, we do not believe that these suspensions will materially delay the expected operation dates due to our conservative construction schedules. We continue to plan that two projects will commence operations in Q1 2021 and two in Q3 2021. The Company will keep working with all stakeholders to ensure health and safety procedures are in place and construction programmes are optimized.
Dividend
The Company reaffirms its annual dividend target of 7.0 pence per share, paid quarterly, in line with Company’s operational portfolio performing and producing cashflow as expected. From 1 April 2019 to 31 December 2019, the Company has announced 6.0 pence per share in dividends.
Alex O’Cinneide, CEO of Gore Street Capital, the Company’s investment adviser commented: “At this time of uncertainty for many, Gore Street is pleased to be able to update its shareholders on further operational progress and that it currently sees no material impact from COVID-19 on its ability to continue to meet its investment objectives. I have dealt with a number of market and environmental disruptions during my career, and we are applying the lessons right now. I cannot provide insight into the medical aspects of the coronavirus, but I can tell you that Gore Street is operating with efficiency and is prepared to deal with external events that could impact our business. We have activated a number of the plans which we have put in place – such as remote working, technology distribution, and online meetings; these are working well. In the longer term, the trend toward more use of alternative energy in the UK, Europe, and beyond will continue. The income that our assets produce is neither directly impacted by either energy demand nor prices, as we principally sell hours of access to our projects for the grid. Furthermore, it is clear that the UK and Ireland will continue to develop significant sources of intermittent renewable power generation to meet international obligations to reduce global carbon emissions. The requirement for the services that our assets provide will therefore continue to grow.”