Corre Energy, a developer of renewable energy storage listed on Dublin’s stock market, has secured the services of Rothchild & Co, an investment bank, to help navigate through investment offers it has received from numerous entities. The Dublin-based firm is in talks with these would-be investors to obtain further capital needed for the operating fund and to finance an array of upcoming projects. However, there is no guarantee at this stage that any investment will be confirmed, nor the form or magnitude of any such investment.
Corre first publicised its receipt of various investment enquiries on March 25th. Over the past year, however, there has been a significant depreciation in the value of Corre’s shares. They have shed almost 75% of their worth, falling to 80.6 cents on Tuesday. This is attributed partially to market-wide reductions in the green energy sector, fuelled by dropping energy prices and the impact of heightened interest rates in this capital-reliant field.
Furthermore, critics attribute part of the decline to Corre’s failure to adequately lay out the financial intricacies of its various initiatives, hindering investors’ ability to evaluate their profitability.
Corre’s most advanced venture, the Zuidwending (ZW1) project, based in the province of Groningen in the Netherlands, is Europe’s first large-scale compressed air energy storage facility constructed in nearly half a century. The facility, due to go live at the end of 2026, will facilitate the conversion of surplus energy into compressed air, then stored in subterranean salt vaults. ZW1 is configured to deliver a maximum of 320MW of electrical power to the grid for around 3½-days.
Among Corre’s other main ventures are a 320MW Green Hydrogen Hub in Denmark, a second establishment in the Netherlands (ZW2), and a proposal to build three compressed air energy storage plants in German caverns secured in the previous year. These German projects collectively have the potential to produce around 500MW of electrical energy, which is roughly equivalent to 9 per cent of the Republic’s current peak energy demand.
Most recently, Corre has made its mark on the American market, signing an agreement last July in Texas, therefore acquiring the opportunity to purchase a 280MW compressed air energy storage project.
The share value of Corre plummeted beneath its starting trade value of €1 for the first time in late February. This slump in market performance followed the resignation of Darren Patrick Green, a key shareholder and founding director. The UK tax officials implicated a Singapore-based company, largely managed by Green, in a suspected tax evasion plan.
Speaking to The Irish Times, Mr Green shared his complete shock at the developments. He has not been involved with the alleged company as a director or even running it for several years. Despite these events, Green remains determined to keep his 38% shareholder stake in Corre. However, his firm stances are seen by the market as an impending risk.