Osborne Clarke advises Gresham House on its acquisition of a renewables and battery energy storage portfolio from Canadian Solar

Bristol-based lawyers at Osborne Clarke have advised specialist alternative asset manager Gresham House on its acquisition of two fully-permitted solar and battery energy storage projects in the UK from global energy provider, Canadian Solar Inc.

The two projects comprise a collocated solar and battery energy storage project in County Durham, with 50 MWp solar capacity and 38 MW (or 76 MWh) of battery energy storage, and a standalone solar project in Warwickshire of 28 MWp.

Both have planning permission and are construction ready. Canadian Solar will continue to be involved in the projects, responsible for both the long-term operations and maintenance activities.

The parties plan to continue prioritising collocated renewable projects, where solar PV and battery energy storage plants are built together and share the same grid connection infrastructure. Such projects provide economic advantages, through shared capital and operating costs, and support the UK economy to meet its net-zero carbon targets thanks to significant benefits to the UK grid by improving system reliability and enabling greater integration of renewables.

The Osborne Clarke team assisting Gresham House was led by Bristol-based partner Chris Yeo, who specialises in low carbon and renewable energy deals, and included senior associate James Archer and associate Jay Eng, also both based in Bristol.

Additional support was provided by partner Charlotte Walker (real estate), partner Hugo Lidbetter and associate Shraiya Thapa (projects) and associate director Anna Fouracre and senior associate Josh Taylor (planning).

Peter Bolton, investment director, renewable energy at Gresham House, said: “We are excited by the opportunity to expand our portfolio of subsidy-free renewables and to secure further co-located solar and battery energy storage assets.

"Gresham House is a long-established investor in both renewables and battery energy storage, and we believe in the strong economic case for co-locating the technologies on the same site. This reflects a UK-wide requirement for more renewables capacity and for battery energy storage to support the grid system as further intermittent renewable generation is added.”