B Capital Partners establishes battery storage platform in Germany and acquires first 60MW battery

Funds advised by B Capital Partners AG, have established BCP Battery Holding as a platform to acquire a pipeline of German battery assets exceeding 300MW. As the first asset of this pipeline, the platform has acquired a 60MW battery

After its first investment into battery storage in Germany in 2020, B Capital Partners AG, a Zurich-based asset manager specialized on sustainable infrastructure, has put together an exclusive pipeline of battery storage assets in Germany from several leading battery developers. The pipeline consists of more than 300MW of battery storage assets, which the newly established BCP Battery Holding (BCP) will acquire and build over the course of the next twelve months. Once the build-out of the pipeline is complete, BCP will be the largest of its kind in Germany.

The first acquisition of the holding platform is the 60MW Smareg 4 battery, located near Eisenach, Thuringia, which is part of a larger pipeline from Smart Power GmbH.

Investment funds managed by Swiss Life Asset Managers, also Zurich based, have become co-investors in the platform in the context of this transaction.

More battery storage is needed to stabilise Germany’s electricity grids in light of ever more volatility caused by intermittent electricity supply from renewable sources and demand peaks during the year. Reducing peaks with the help of battery storage decreases the requirement to build-out grids, which is both expensive and takes many more years to complete. Energy storage is therefore a key missing element at the heart of the energy transition with the potential to accelerate full decarbonization.

B Capital believes that large scale investing into battery storage makes a positive impact on the environment, on climate change, and on reaching the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals.

“An early mover in the German battery storage market, B Capital Partners sees the multiple positive impacts batteries have on reaching climate change goals and affordable renewable energy targets for all. B Capital is pleased to have attracted Swiss Life Asset Managers to join forces in this endeavour” comments Dr Barbara Weber, Founder of B Capital.