Harmony Energy to fund pipeline of BESS via C Shares placing

Harmony Energy will fund its pipeline of two-hour duration battery energy storage systems (BESS) projects via placing new C Shares.

In doing so, the company will gather capital to grow its battery portfolio in the UK, which currently consists of six different projects totalling 312.5MW.

The purpose of the capital raise is to enable the Harmony to exercise its right of first refusal to acquire some or all of the next three BESS projects to be “shovel ready” from the pipeline, totalling 181.9MW or 363.8MWh.

All of these projects have grid offers accepted, the firm said, with target grid energisation dates in Q4 2023, Q1 2024 and Q3 2024 respectively and are now ready for funding imminently to meet those target energisation dates.

“Having fully committed the funds raised immediately following IPO, the Investment Adviser has continued to progress the Company's portfolio projects in line with the planned roll-out. The Company successfully secured debt with NatWest plc and acquired its sixth project,” said Norman Crighton, chair of Harmony Energy Income Trust.

“The next three projects will shortly be ready for acquisition, against a strong backdrop for BESS, both in terms of the need for energy storage and the revenue profile.

“Whilst recognising the current challenging economic and market backdrop, we believe it to be beneficial for the Company, with our Shareholders' support, to take advantage of its exclusive rights over Harmony Energy's pipeline as envisaged at IPO and continue to build on the positive momentum.”

The new C Shares will be available at a price of 100p per share and will be launched immediately with Berenberg acting as sole Bookrunner.

The firm recently confirmed that the Harmony Energy Income Trust's net asset value (NAV) grew by 6.72% as a result of surging ancillary service revenues.

With the growth of the ancillary market, batteries are continuing to benefit from strong demand across Dynamic Containment, Moderation and Regulation amongst others.

Earlier this month, it completed the acquisition of the 99MW/198MWh energy storage project, dubbed Bumpers. Looking ahead to 2023, large-scale energy storage sites in Fife and Buckinghamshire will finish construction and begin targeting commercial operations.