Our Energy team has acted for a syndicate of five commercial banks on the £235 million financing for the construction of two greenfield battery storage projects being developed by Zenobe in Scotland.

The syndicate includes Santander, Natwest, CIBC, Siemens Bank and Rabobank in a landmark deal that will see up to 600MW of storage capacity added to the transmission network in the UK.

Zenobe is widely recognised as being at the forefront of the energy storage revolution and the deal also includes an accordion feature which will allow the business to access additional financing for further projects in the future, up to an aggregate debt amount of £400 million.

The team was led by partner, Nath Curtis and senior associate, Sam Evans (both project finance). They were supported by Jonathan Brufal (energy & infrastructure), Jamie Desmond (projects & infrastructure), Gus Wood (offtake), James Stanier and George Nixon (commercial energy and regulatory), Dan O'Donnell (finance), Nikita Gudgeon (banking & finance), Kam Dhillon (financial services regulation), and Helen Hibbert (tax). Scottish real estate capability was provided by law firm, Burness Paull.

Commenting on the financing, Nath Curtis said:

"These are exciting projects for the UK battery storage sector and we are proud to have supported our clients and the rest of the deal team in reaching financial close. Greater storage capacity is needed to accelerate the UK's transition away from fossil fuels to more renewable sources and the projects will significantly enhance this. The deal further strengthens our battery storage financing experience on the back of our work for the likes of Triple Point and Pacific Green. It also demonstrates our versatility in acting on complex debt financing transactions in the UK decarbonisation market, where our current mandates include transactions in the nuclear SMR, biogas, renewable generation and biodiversity sectors, to name a few."

Gowling WLG's multi-disciplinary Energy team has a market-leading reputation and operates seamlessly around the globe. Positioned at the forefront of the renewables sector, the team has completed a series of recent transactions, including advisory to HydrogenOne on its investments in green hydrogen developer HH2E, Bramble, Gen2, HiiRoc and NanoSun, Island Green Power and to Triple Point Energy Efficiency Infrastructure Company on investments into Harvest and Glasshouse. The team has also acted on largescale battery storage investments for Exagen, Eelpower, and Vanadium Redox, as well as the acquisition of Sheaf Energy Limited by Pacific Green Energy Storage.