LONDON, UK: Regency Mines Plc, the natural resource exploration and development company with interests in battery metals and flexible grid solutions, purchased 50% interest in Weirs Drove Development Ltd (WDD), a developer of energy storage and solar projects in the United Kingdom with an initial site in Cambridgeshire.

Scott Kaintz, CEO, commented: “We continue to make progress as we look to grow our business founded both on producing the materials that will generate energy during the carbon transition and on the infrastructure that will store and transport distributed power where needed.

“We are delighted to expand our flexible grid solutions business with multiple new UK projects, several of which have early potential to be revenue generating and one of which comes with an offtake offer from Limejump, a Shell subsidiary. 

This acquisition is intended to deliver our key corporate objectives of near-term cash generation and follows our recent discounted debt acquisition bolstering our Battery Metals business, which is already benefitting from recent encouraging movements in Nickel prices.

“The Flexible Grid Solutions division, with its low-risk near-term cash flow potential in the UK, continues to offer Regency investors an attractive balance to the significant blue-sky upside of the Company’s battery metals mining portfolio.

“The Weirs Drove team has a proven track record of execution on energy storage and solar projects across the UK, and we look forward to working together.”

Flexible Grid Solutions has acquired a 50% interest in Weirs Drove Development Ltd., a debt free privately owned battery storage developer, for a £25,000 cash injection into the WDD business. 

Regency FGS has further agreed to extend a shareholder loan of £100,000 once the first site at Burwell has met all shovel ready criteria which include a grid connection offer, full planning permission and an executed site lease (all of which are close to finalisation).

The debt is repayable upon Financial Close, expected later this year.  It is expected that the equity and debt will be utilised to finalise the development of the Burwell battery storage site and thereafter to advance additional projects.

In addition to agreeing an industry standard joint venture shareholder agreement, including Board participation and Regency approval of key decisions, the Company has secured an option to buy the remaining 50% of WDD at a price of £30,000 per fully operational megawatt of energy storage or production, at the time of option exercise, to be paid 50% in cash and 50% in new ordinary shares of the Flexible Grid Solutions.

The option is exercisable at the sole election of Regency and becomes exercisable following WDD commissioning at least 40MW of installed energy storage or energy production capacity.  A deferred option consideration of £5,000 per MW on the next 100MW of installed capacity would also become due after reaching that metric, also payable 50% in cash and 50% in shares if triggered. 

The entire equity component of the option and deferred consideration, should the option be exercised at the Company’s discretion, will be priced at the 30-day VWAP prior to exercise.  The Company has also agreed standard tag and drag along rights for the Company.

There are multiple near shovel-ready projects in the WDD portfolio:

• A 30MW battery storage project in Burwell, outside of Cambridge and in close proximity to the Burwell substation
• A 40-year lease has been negotiated with the Burwell landlord, and a grid connection and associated planning permission is expected by the end of July 2020
• Limejump Ltd., owned by Shell New Energies, have submitted an offer to provide a route to market and trade Burwell’s storage capability for revenue as a demand side response aggregator
• A 5MW battery storage project in Malton with a grid connection, land lease and planning permission in place
• Additional energy storage and solar projects of varying sizes in earlier stages of development

Founded in 2019, Weirs Drove Development has been working to identify projects across the UK that meet its criteria for development, including access to existing grid infrastructure, existing or shortened pathways to site planning permissions and supportive landowners.  WDD has targeted potential project site locations in a local area in order to leverage expertise and existing relationships.

The principals of WDD are Tim Dobson and Christian Yates and they are supported by the technical energy consultancy, E-Unity Ltd.  Tim Dobson is the founder of Weirs Drove and managed the planning and grid connection work for a 13MW solar farm on the Duke of Grafton’s Estate at Honington; at the time one of the UK’s largest solar farm projects.  Tim has also manged the financing, planning, procurement and grid work for the 8MW Bay Far solar project in Suffolk.

Christian Yates is Chairman of Gresham House Renewable Energy VCT 2 plc, a listed investment company.  He co-founded and established Gresham House Renewable Energy VCTs in 2010, while a partner at Hazel Capital LLP.

At the time of the transaction and as a new entity, WDD had yet to file or prepare accounts.