Swiss Life acquires German battery storage stake

• Investment includes share in a 420MWh pipe of future projects

Institutional investor Swiss Life has obtained a 50% stake in a 68MWh battery storage space project in Germany.

The manager, which is buying part of two infrastructure funds, is obtaining the stake in the Smart Power project along with Zurich-based asset manager B Capital Partners.

The project in Eisenach, Thuringia, will be the biggest industrial battery on the German market when building is finished.

Swiss Life's investment in holdco BCP Battery Holding additionally gives it a stake in Smart Power's bigger development-phase storage platform, which will be implemented over the following one year.

BCP Battery Holding holds exclusivity legal rights to construct a further 420MWh of battery projects in Germany.

Marc Schürch, Head Renewable Energy at Swiss Life Asset Managers, claimed: "We are very pleased to be entering this amazing market as well as to support its growth. Demand for storage will boost to balance the greater proportion of variable, eco-friendly generation in the power system. Batteries will increasingly be picked to manage this vibrant supply as well as need mix."