Corre Energy, a Dublin-listed energy storage developer for renewable power firms, said on Wednesday it plans to raise as much as €7 million from a share sale to advance key projects in the Netherlands and Denmark and pursue other “promising” European and North American projects.
The company, which raised €12 million in an initial public offering (IPO) in September 2021 and followed up with a €10.9 million share placing last May, is also on track to raise as much as €4 million in equity from Italian private equity fund Fondo Italiano per L’Efficienza Energetica (FIEE). That is subject to the current share placing raising at least €5 million and Corre’s Zuidwending (ZW1) project in the Netherlands achieving commercial close, expected in the first half of this year.
“The global commitment to the transition to renewable power generation and the intensification of efforts to improve energy security, following recent systemic shocks, has presented a prime opportunity for a sector-leading LDES solution provider such as Corre Energy,” the company said. LDES refers to long-duration energy storage.
The company said that while it continues to “develop and refine” its longer-term pipeline, sourcing and progressing opportunities which stretch out well over a decade, it highlighted that it is focused on achieving the tangible milestones it has set out with its near-term projects, particularly ZW1 and the Green Hydrogen Hub in Denmark (GHH1).
Shares in Corre have soared by more than 200 per cent over the past year, making it by far the best Iseq performer during the period, as investors eye the company’s opportunities as authorities on both sides of the Atlantic accelerate renewable energy transition policies. The green energy agenda in Europe has been turbocharged in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine a year ago as governments seek to strengthen energy security.
Still, Corre’s stock dipped 2.6 per cent in early trading in Dublin on Wednesday, to €3.80, as brokers Davy, Berenberg and Longspur started to carry out the share sale.
Corre, led by chief executive Keith McGrane, signed a 15-year agreement in December for Rotterdam-based energy group Eneco to use the full power storage and production capacity of the ZW1 project.
The ZW1 project is being designed to allow for up to 220 megawatts (MW) of surplus electricity to be converted into compressed air, stored in underground salter caverns. At times when there is not enough wind or sunshine the compressed air can be led to a turbine to produce extra electricity. ZW1 is capable of supplying electricity to the grid with a capacity of 320 MW for a period of up to 3½ days.
The GHH1 project is expected to reach commercial close in the second half of this year, which includes binding agreements for power firms to take stored energy, grid connections and relevant land use deals.
Corre said that achieving commercial close on both projects will allow it to sell equity stakes in each. It will be 2026 before either project starts operating.
ZW1 is set to be the first large-scale compressed air energy storage (CAES) facility to be constructed in Europe in almost 50 years.
