terralayr reaches financial close on a €60 million BESS portfolio financing in Germany with ABN AMRO and Commerzbank
The energy flexibility company terralayr has reached financial close on a €60 million senior secured debt financing for a portfolio of battery energy storage projects in Germany. The transaction also includes a €100 million accordion facility to finance further pipeline projects.
The financing was provided by ABN AMRO and Commerzbank, acting as Mandated Lead Arrangers and Original Lenders, and represents terralayr’s largest debt financing to date. The successful closing demonstrates strong market appetite to finance BESS platforms in Germany and highlights the bankability of portfolio-based battery storage structures.
The transaction features several innovative elements, including the financing of a portfolio of multiple assets, structured to allow the sponsor to benefit from portfolio effects and accommodate future growth. In addition, the financing is supported by a tolling agreement, enabled through terralayr’s software platform LAYR, where tolling is not tied to individual assets, allowing for more diversification.
Project scope, commercial setup and delivery
The deal comprises a portfolio of nine front-of-the-meter battery energy storage projects located in the TenneT grid region in Germany. The projects generally have a two-hour duration and range in size from 6 MW to 20 MW, resulting in a total portfolio capacity of 112 MW / 238 MWh with eight projects currently under construction and one project already operational.
The portfolio benefits from a balanced commercial structure, combining contracted and merchant revenues. A total of 55 MW is secured under a seven-year capacity tolling agreement with Vattenfall, providing stable, long-term revenues that support the financing. The remaining 57 MW is commercialised on a merchant basis and is optimised via terralayr’s software platform LAYR, which virtualizes battery assets and acts as a route-to-market solution. The platform enables participation across ancillary services, wholesale power markets and terralayr’s Virtual Battery Auctions (VBAs), and allows multiple independent optimisers to access the capacity.
Construction and operations are underpinned by turnkey EPC contracts and long-term O&M agreements, with delivery and asset management provided by three established EPC providers. This setup ensures diversification of execution risk and a robust delivery framework across the portfolio.
Financing structure
The debt financing has been structured as a seven-year mini-perm and comprises:
• a €49 million senior secured term loan facility,
• €11 million of additional senior secured facilities, and
• a €100 million accordion facility to support further portfolio expansion.
The structure has been designed to accommodate the portfolio nature of the assets and to allow for the integration of additional projects over time, subject to agreed criteria, to further support terralayr’s growth.
Philipp Man, Co-Founder and CEO of terralayr:
“Reaching financial close on this financing is a significant milestone for terralayr. It demonstrates that diversified, portfolio-based battery storage projects with a balanced revenue profile are bankable in Germany. We are pleased to have ABN AMRO and Commerzbank as partners on this transaction and see this structure as a strong foundation for further growth.”
Lisa McDermott, Head of Energy Transition Project Financing, ABN AMRO:
"We are delighted to support terralayr in its future growth trajectory through this important and innovative financing, which also marks the expansion of ABN AMRO’s European BESS financing footprint to the German market. This financing builds upon the bank’s broader renewable energy, flexibility and decarbonisation track record and underpins our strong commitment to supporting our clients in the decarbonisation of the energy sector in Europe, for which commercial scale battery storage is an essential lever.”
Tim Koenemann, Head of CoC Green Infrastructure Finance, Commerzbank AG:
"Supporting terralayr and German energy transition targets ideally matches our goal to champion sustainable and innovative financing solutions. This financing is an important step for Commerzbank to complete its first stand-alone utility-scale BESS transaction in our home market Germany based on a balanced revenue profile, a diversified asset base and strong execution capabilities of the sponsor. We highly value the commitment and effort to bring this project to a successful close and are happy to welcome terralayr as our client.”
The transaction was supported by the following advisors:
• Legal Counsel to Borrower / Sponsor: Hogan Lovells
• Legal Counsel to Lenders: Watson Farley & Williams
• Financial Advisor: Augusta & Co
• Technical & Commercial Advisor: AFRY
• Legal Due Diligence: Osborne Clarke
• Insurance Advisor: Aon M&A Transaction Advisory Services
• Model Auditor: EY-Parthenon
About terralayr
terralayr is a fully integrated energy flexibility provider, combining German grid-scale battery storage development and operation with a proprietary software platform that aggregates, optimises and commercialises flexibility. terralayr supports power producers, grid operators and major energy users, with a multi-gigawatt development pipeline across Germany and a roadmap to scale across Europe. The company currently employs around 50 sector specialists.
About ABN AMRO
ABN AMRO is a leading Dutch bank for retail, corporate and private banking, offering a full range of financial products and solutions. ABN AMRO builds long-term relationships with its clients, founded on trust and in furtherance of its purpose: Banking for better, for generations to come. ABN AMRO is one of the largest retail banks in the Netherlands, serving over five million account holders and 352,000 small and medium-sized companies. Its Wealth Management unit is one of the leading private banks in the Netherlands, Germany, France and Belgium, managing EUR 239 billion in client investments. Through its Corporate Banking unit, it provides banking and advisory products and services to more than 10.000 larger corporates across Europe. ABN AMRO Clearing is also one of the world’s leading clearing banks. Please visit us at www.abnamro.com.
About Commerzbank
With its two business segments – Corporate Clients and Private and Small-Business Customers –, Commerzbank, as a full-service bank, offers a comprehensive portfolio of financial services. It is the leading bank in the Corporate Clients Business in Germany and for the German Mittelstand and a strong partner for around 24,000 corporate client groups. Commerzbank transacts approximately 30% of Germany’s foreign trade financing. The Bank is present internationally in more than 40 countries in the corporate clients’ business – wherever its Mittelstand clients, large corporates, and institutional clients need it. In addition, Commerzbank supports its international clients with a business relationship to Germany, Austria, or Switzerland and companies operating in selected future-oriented industries. With more than €400bn assets under management, Commerzbank is also one of the leading banks for private and small-business customers in Germany.
Press contact terralayr
Ingmar Remus
Tel. 0049 171 3253908
remus@siccmamedia.de