Gore Street Energy Storage Fund, a London-based publicly traded fund managed by Gore Street Capital, has acquired a 200 MW Big Rock 1 energy storage project in Imperial County, California, from clean energy project developer Avantus, for an undisclosed amount.
The project is expected to begin construction in the second half of 2023, with completion expected by late 2024. Once operational, the 400 MWh, a two-hour energy storage system, is expected to be one of the largest in the country and will provide reliable power, with plans to provide resource adequacy and ancillary services to the CAISO market.
After the acquisition, the Gore Street Capital Fund will have 27 projects, representing 1.2 GW of operational and construction capacity in the UK, Ireland, Germany, and the U.S.
Tom Buttgenbach, Founder and CEO of Avantus, said, “Powering our future requires solutions like Big Rock 1 that are clean, low-cost, responsive, and reliable any time of day or night. Now that we have the technology and economics in place to really unleash the potential of energy storage, we need to get to work deploying it in California and other places with vast amounts of existing renewable resources and help bolster grid stability for millions of people”.
Avantus will continue to oversee the development and construction of the project, pairing Gore Street Capital’s global operating and technical experience with Avantus’ technical and market expertise.
“This acquisition is an important milestone in increasing the size and diversification of our international portfolio. In acquiring Big Rock 1, we are delighted to enter the CAISO grid, supporting California’s massive renewable energy market and broadening our presence in the U.S”, said Alex O’Cinneide, CEO of Gore Street Capital.
The Big Rock 1 project is part of Avantus’ longstanding partnership with Imperial County, where the company developed the 800 MW Mount Signal solar cluster over a decade ago, which remains one of the largest operating solar projects in the country. Big Rock 1 will add additional resiliency to the grid, capturing clean energy produced throughout the day and discharging it during periods of high demand throughout the night.
The project is expected to create 90 construction jobs and provide tens of millions in local tax revenue and other contributions to benefit Imperial County communities.
According to Mercom’s Annual And Q4 2022 Funding and M&A Report for Storage, Grid & Efficiency. A record 14.6 GW of energy storage and solar + storage projects were acquired in 2022, a 400% increase YoY compared to 3 GW in 2021.
