Watson Farley & Williams (“WFW”) advised a consortium of lenders and hedge counterparties – comprising ABN Amro, China Minsheng, CIBC, Deutsche Bank, Investec, MUFG, NatWest, Nord LB, Santander, Siemens, SMBC, SocGen and Standard Chartered – on the £594m debt package for the 1.45 GW (2.9 GWh) Thorpe Marsh BESS project in Yorkshire, UK. The UK’s National Wealth Fund also provided £200m in equity to the project.
Thorpe Marsh is the largest battery project in the UK and one of the largest in Europe. It will be transmission connected and significantly increase the UK’s installed BESS capacity, currently around 8 GW. Sponsored by Fidra, EIG Partners (“EIG”) will be its majority owner.
Construction will begin immediately, with first operations expected in mid-2027. The project will use Sungrow Power Supply Co., Ltd.’s Power Titan 2.0 battery systems, with H&MV Engineering overseeing the 400kV grid connection and mechanical and electrical works. Jones Bros Civil Engineering UK will provide civil and drainage works. Fidra has secured long-term offtake agreements with EDF, Octopus Energy and Statkraft for around 80% of the project’s capacity, alongside a 15-year capacity market contract.
Fidra is an independent battery energy storage business headquartered in Edinburgh and backed by leading global energy investor EIG. The National Wealth Fund is the UK’s sovereign wealth fund, with a mandate to invest in domestic projects alongside the private sector.
The multidisciplinary WFW London Energy team that advised the lenders was led by Projects Partner Jennifer Charles, supported on finance matters by Senior Associates Abraham Knight and George Garthwaite and Associate Georgina Somers. Project development expertise was provided by Partner Emmanuel Ninos, Senior Associate James Ballantyne and Associate Ben Harvey. Hedging advice was provided by Partner Rob McBride and Associate Kristina Buckberry. Associate Hamish Ungless provided planning and regulatory advice. Real estate input was courtesy of Partner John Rosmini and Senior Associate Philippa Satterthwaite.
Jennifer commented: “We are thrilled to have supported the lenders and hedge counterparties to help fund such a ground-breaking BESS project for the UK. With the capacity to power 800,000 homes once operational, this project underpins WFW’s position as a leading firm in the global energy transition sector”.
