Bird & Bird advises Reichmuth on the investment in one of the largest battery storages in Germany
Contacts
International law firm Bird & Bird advised Reichmuth Infrastructure, a leading Swiss asset management company specialised in infrastructure investments in the mid-cap segment which manages around EUR 2bn of assets through four diversified investments funds, on a joint venture to build a new 100 MW battery storage plant in Bavaria, together with energy storage developer MW Storage.
Reichmuth Infrastructure, via its Reichmuth Sustainable Infrastructure fund, is the project’s majority shareholder. MW Storage Fund acts as the anchor investor and energy company Bayernwerk and Zukunftsenergie Nordostbayern GmbH (ZENOB) participate as minority stakeholders. MW Storage serves as the project developer and will construct the lithium-ion battery storage power plant in Arzberg.
The facility has a connection capacity of 100 megawatts and a storage capacity of 200 megawatt-hours. As a result, the battery is one of the largest facilities under construction in Germany. It has already received all necessary permits and construction will commence shortly. Completion and commissioning of the entire battery storage power plant in Arzberg are expected for early 2025.
Germany is expected to need 180 gigawatt-hours of battery energy storage systems by 2045. Both Reichmuth Infrastructure and MW Storage are already setting the course for the future energy market: With the establishment of the facility in Arzberg, the project partners are financing crucial infrastructure for the energy transition. The realisation of the energy transition requires not only the expansion of renewable energy but also a significant increase in storage capacities.
Reichmuth Infrastructure has been advised by the following Bird & Bird lawyers: partner Dr. Matthias Winter (lead) and associates Tilman Sörgel and Stanislav Schmidt, all Finance & Financial Regulation, Frankfurt, partner Dr. Stefanie Orttmann, LL.M., (Dusseldorf) counsel Michael Gassner (Munich) and associates Jan Medele, Felix Spindler, LL.M. and Henrike Camphausen, all Corporate, Dusseldorf, partner Dr. Matthias Lang (Dusseldorf) and associate Danny Meidinger (Munich), both Regulatory & Administrative / Energy, senior counsel Elie Kaufman, LL.M. and associate Finja Schlingmann, both Real Estate, Frankfurt.