Elgar Middleton is pleased to have advised SAE on the financing of the 120MW Afon Wysg BESS asset.

Elgar Middleton is pleased to announce its role as exclusive financial advisor to SAE Renewables (“SAE”) on the financial close of the 120MW / 240MWh AW1 battery energy storage system (BESS) project, located in Uskmouth, South Wales.

The financing structure combined multiple capital sources across several layers of the capital stack. SAE’s equity contribution was underpinned by a combination of internal funding, a £8.5m corporate-level loan from Cardiff Capital Region (CCR), £9 million of proceeds from the sale of project land to Electric Land, which it subsequently leased back, and a contribution from a global renewable energy group as minority investor. Senior debt of £45.3 million was provided by Norddeutsche Landesbank (Nord/LB).

The AW1 project has a contracted grid connection date of October 2026 that will allow for project commissioning, and an anticipated full commercial operations start date during Q1 2027. It is SAE’s flagship project within its pipeline at the Uskmouth Sustainable Energy Park, which has the potential to be one of the largest battery storage sites in the UK. The successful financing establishes SAE’s continued commitment to renewing the Uskmouth site and surrounding area.

This transaction highlights Elgar Middleton’s proven track record in delivering complex, multi-party financings for cutting-edge energy infrastructure. Our team worked closely with SAE and all counterparties to design and execute a tailored capital structure that met the project’s unique commercial and strategic objectives.

For more information about our work in the energy transition and battery storage sectors, please contact the Elgar Middleton team