The banking team at Bristol-headquartered national law firm Burges Salmon has advised on an innovative finance deal worth up to £70m from a group of three funders which will be used to build a major battery energy storage system.
The funding was secured by global clean energy group TagEnergy to support the development and construction of a 100MW greenfield battery energy storage plant in Selby, North Yorkshire.
Burges Salmon advised the club of lenders – Santander UK, London-headquartered Triple Point and Dutch bank Rabobank – on the deal, which includes an uncommitted accordion facility with a view to incorporating further assets in the financing structure.
Construction on the Lakeside project, Portuguese developer and investor TagEnergy’s latest in the UK, started in August with the energy park due to go live by the middle of next year.
Lisbon-headquartered TagEnergy, which also has schemes in Portugal, Spain, France and Australia, bought the storage project outright from developers RES in 2021 as its fifth investment in the UK.
The Burges Salmon team was led by banking partner Graham Soar and projects partner Alec Whiter, supported by senior associate Alison Logan, associate Samir Younes and a team of specialist lawyers from across the firm’s energy and infrastructure sector group.
Burges Salmon acted for all three lenders, providing cross-disciplinary expertise on banking, real estate, construction and planning matters.
Graham Soar, pictured, said: “We have been advising on energy storage technologies and projects for well over a decade and we understand the crucial role they play in the UK’s energy transition.
“It was a pleasure to represent Santander UK, Rabobank and Triple Point on their multi-faceted and innovative debt package.
A spokesman for the lenders added: “We’d like to thank the Burges Salmon team for their excellent knowledge of battery storage projects, on-point banking expertise and for providing practical and astute solutions which worked for all sides, making what was a complex transaction, feel seamless and joined-up.”
Burges Salmon’s banking team provides tailored advice from a range of perspectives to support lenders and borrowers on complex financing transactions in the UK and internationally.
The firm, which employs 1,000-plus people across its offices in Bristol, London and Edinburgh, is a major player in the battery energy storage market.
