Helen Mahy, Scotland’s minister for trade, investment and innovation, Ivan McKee, and Gavin McAlpine, chairman of RES at the Broxburn Energy Storage facility in 2018. Image: RES.
The Renewables Infrastructure Group (TRIG) has released its financial results, highlighting an increasing focus on battery storage in the UK.
The company saw a 50% increase in its portfolio in 2019, which generated 3,036GWh of electricity in the year. This was valued at £1,745 million, while TRIG’s profit before tax also grew to £162 million.
TRIG’s portfolio of 74 projects covers the UK, Ireland, France, Germany and Sweden, and includes diversified technology, with investments in wind, solar and battery storage assets.
Historically in the UK, the green fund has been focused on solar and wind projects, since its first IPO in 2013.
But in this year's financial results, TRIG’s chairman Helen Mahy stated that in addition to TRIG’s existing markets, unsubsidised battery storage in the UK offers an attractive opportunity to enhance the company’s “geographic and technological diversification when balanced on a portfolio basis with subsidised projects with higher revenue visibility".
This is together with an increased focus on subsidy free solar in Iberia, which is also identified as a key growth area for the company. This is a continuation of its strategy of combining subsidised projects with unsubsidised to maintain an "appropriate" risk-return profile.
This is not the first time the company has shown an interest in UK storage, with TRIG acquiring Scotland’s first utility-scale battery storage facility in 2018. The 20MW Broxburn Energy Storage facility is currently TRIG’s only storage project in its portfolio, with the project continuing to perform well and "in line with expectations", TRIG said in its results.
Mahy said that 2019 marked another strong year for the company, highlighting the increases in the company’s dividend target and net asset value.
“We have been well supported by our shareholders with two successful fund raises during the year enabling us to make further attractive investments. Renewable energy has a central role to play in decarbonising our energy usage and we remain confident that TRIG will continue to play its part in the energy transition.”
Additionally today, TRIG announced the appointment of Tove Feld as a non-executive director, with effect from 1 March 2020. Her appointment will likely strengthen the company’s offshore wind expertise, with a background working with DONG Energy Wind Power (now Orsted) and Siemens Wind Power.
Mahy said she was delighted to welcome Feld as "she has had a distinguished career working at some of the leading names in the renewables sector and brings a wealth of knowledge that will be invaluable for TRIG".
“Tove’s background compliments the existing Board’s skills well and increases its expertise in Europe. The expanded Board is well placed to provide strong oversight as TRIG continues to go from strength to strength," Mahy added.