Important information

Gore Street Energy Storage Fund plc, the internationally diversified energy storage fund, is pleased to announce that it has upsized its existing revolving credit facility ("RCF") with Santander from £15m to £50m.

The Company has successfully secured £35m of incremental debt arranged and syndicated between Santander UK and Banco Santander. Pricing for the £50m facility remains unchanged at 300 basis points over SONIA.

If the increased RCF is fully utilised, the Company's debt would be equivalent to c.8% of GAV.

The four-year term of the facility extends until 2027, providing the Company with increased financial flexibility, which will be used to support the development of the Company's construction portfolio and provides further headroom to explore attractive pipeline opportunities. The facility includes an accordion option to increase beyond £50m to up to 30% of Gross Asset Value ("GAV").

The Company is also separately exploring project-level financing options in USD for its Big Rock asset in California. The asset's revenue profile is expected to be underpinned by a long-term fixed contract, accounting for up to 40% of project revenue, making it an attractive candidate to introduce project-level debt at competitive pricing levels.

Notwithstanding the debt headroom permitted under the Company's gearing policy, net debt is not expected to exceed £150m, or c.21% of GAV over the next 18 months based on funding requirements for constructing the 522 MW of capacity targeting energisation by December 2024 and including milestone payments for all portfolio assets with energisation targets beyond this 18-month period. The Company continues to review the build-out plan of its construction portfolio while monitoring the current interest rate environment and taking cognisance of yesterday's Bank of England interest rate increase of 50bps. The Company's cash balance as of 31 March 2023 was £123.7m which is sufficient to meet all existing contractual obligations.

Alex O'Cinneide, CEO of Gore Street Capital, the investment manager to the Company, commented:

"We are pleased to follow last week's NAV announcement, which showed the strength of our international portfolio, with this positive news that we have secured additional financing that will enable us to continue to explore attractive opportunities and support the buildout of the Company's assets in construction. This reinforces our existing relationship with Santander, which has been supportive since our original facility in 2021. As reinforced yesterday by the Bank of England's increase in the base rate, we remain conservative in our use of debt and will maintain an appropriate gearing ratio well within the 30% GAV limit. The additional financial flexibility will allow us to use leverage when appropriate to drive continued success and value for stakeholders."

Ioana Bozan, Director, Specialised & Project Finance, Santander UK commented:

 ''We are delighted to continue supporting Gore Street Energy Storage Fund plc's acquisition pipeline and enabling the transition to a low carbon future with an upsized £50m debt facility. It has been a pleasure continuing to work with GSF's investment management team and cementing our relationship, while delivering bespoke, flexible funding to unlock further opportunities."

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Notes to Editors

About Gore Street Energy Storage Fund plc

Gore Street is London's first listed energy storage fund and seeks to provide Shareholders with an opportunity to invest in a diversified portfolio of utility-scale energy storage projects. In addition to growth through exploiting its considerable pipeline, the Company aims to deliver consistent and robust dividend yield as income distributions to its Shareholders.