Terralayr closes $71.7 million loan for German battery portfolio, with $118.6 million upsizing option

Swiss storage platform developer Terralayr has added a significant loan to its recent capital raise, reaching financial close on a $71.7 million (€60 million) senior secured loan for a portfolio of battery energy storage projects in Germany. The facility includes a $118.6 million (€100 million) so-called accordion option intended to fund additional projects as they are added to the portfolio.

The senior secured debt financing is for a portfolio of nine front-of-the-meter battery energy storage system projects in Germany, with lenders ABN AMRO and Commerzbank acting as mandated lead arrangers.

The portfolio is located in the TenneT control area and comprises 112 MW of power capacity and 238 MWh of energy storage. Individual projects range from 6 MW to 20 MW, with typical discharge durations of around two hours. Eight assets are under construction, with one already in operation.

The financing is notable both for the headline size and how revenue risk is structured. Around 55 MW of the portfolio is backed by a seven-year capacity tolling agreement with Vattenfall. The remaining 57 MW will be exposed to merchant markets, including wholesale and balancing services, and optimized via Terralayr’s software platform.

Terralayr also revealed that the tolling structure is applied at the portfolio level rather than being tied to individual assets, allowing new projects to be added without rewriting the commercial framework each time, which supports lender comfort while reducing any concentration risk.

In terms of the other elements of the loan, the seven-year mini-perm financing consists of a €49 million term loan, €11 million in additional senior facilities, and a €100 million accordion facility.

To explain, a mini-perm is where the loan term is shorter than the economic life of the asset, with the expectation that the debt will be refinanced or repaid early. It helps lenders both lock in early models around expected revenues and avoid risk over the later stages of the asset, and let the revenue model evolve for refinancing. For the project owner, it does make getting a loan easier when the portfolio is bankable.

In terms of the accordion facility, this is a kind of “pre-approved increase” situation: the assumption being here that if Terralayr brings new projects that meet agreed criteria, the lenders can extend more debt under the same structure rather than negotiating a new loan from scratch.

What they said:

Philipp Man, Co-Founder and CEO of Terralayr: “The financial close of this financing is an important milestone for Terralayr. It shows that diversified, portfolio-based battery storage projects with a balanced revenue profile are bankable in Germany. We are pleased to have won ABN AMRO and Commerzbank as partners and see this structure as a reliable basis for further growth.”

Lisa McDermott, Head of Energy Transition Project Financing, ABN AMRO: “We are pleased to accompany Terralayr on its growth path with this important and innovative financing. At the same time, the transaction marks ABN AMRO’s entry into the German market for BESS financing. It builds on our broad experience in renewables, flexibility, and decarbonization and underlines our clear commitment to supporting Europe’s energy transition, in which battery storage plays a central role on an industrial scale.”

Tim Koenemann, Head of CoC Green Infrastructure Finance, Commerzbank AG: “The support of Terralayr and the German energy transition is an ideal fit with our ambition to drive sustainable and innovative financing solutions. For Commerzbank, this financing is an important step, as it is our first standalone transaction in the field of grid-connected battery storage in the German market – based on a balanced revenue profile, a diversified asset base and the strong implementation capabilities of the sponsor. We greatly appreciate the commitment of everyone involved and are pleased to welcome Terralayr as a customer.”