Initial Acquisition for Japan’s First Energy Storage Fund

Following the announcement on 30 September 2024 detailing the successful fundraising round close of Japan’s first dedicated energy storage fund, the “Tokyo Energy Storage Investment Limited Partnership” (“the Fund”), Gore Street Capital is pleased to announce the first acquisition for the Fund in Japan. The project is located in Kasama City, Ibaraki Prefecture.

The Kasama project will have a capacity of 20 MW / 80 MWh and benefit from the Tokyo Government’s subsidy scheme. The project has been sized to qualify for capacity market payments, a long-term contracted income to complement the predominantly merchant revenue model.

The Japanese market is increasingly focused on deploying renewable energy, which is needed to meet its Net Zero target of 2050, as outlined in its 6th Strategic Energy Plan and the Green Transformation Act. BESS is a critical part of the infrastructure needed to manage the intermittency associated with renewable energy sources and the growing scarcity of inertia associated with grids heavily dominated by renewable energy generation. The approval of this project under the Tokyo Energy Storage Investment Limited Partnership marks an important step in supporting Japan’s 2050 net zero commitment.

Suminori Arima, Chief Investment Officer at Gore Street Capital, commented:

“After screening numerous opportunities, we are pleased to select this high-quality project as the first investment for the Fund. Interestingly, this asset will not rely on the long-term decarbonisation auction (equivalent to the Capacity Market in GB), which provides contracts with up to 20-year fixed price payments. Together with Itochu, we will leverage the in-house expertise at Gore Street, building on our multi-year track record of managing BESS assets, across the European and North American markets. We look forward to commencing construction and executing against the Fund’s mandate in the near future.”