... or get a stake in green battery bounty

FOR investors who are in a more ecological frame of mind or want to hedge their bets in a climateconscious world, Harmony Energy Income Trust might prove just the ticket.

Harmony specialises in battery storage plants, which allow electricity to be released on to the grid and sent to homes and businesses when it is most needed.

The company, based in Knaresborough, North Yorkshire, expects to list on the stock market in early November and is hoping to raise £230million.

Shares will go on sale this week at £1 each, available on Primary Bid or via intermediaries such as AJ Bell and Hargreaves Lansdown.

With an eye on income-seekers, Harmony boss Paul Mason is targeting an 8 per cent dividend yield from 2023, payable quarterly and rising from 2 per cent next year.

The group will make its money from buying electricity on the wholesale markets when it is cheap, usually overnight from renewable sources, and selling it when it is most in demand, mostly between 5pm and 7pm.

Harmony can do this by storing the energy in huge batteries, strategically located near local electricity distribution points.

Battery storage has only been around for a few years in the UK but Harmony was there from the start so it gains access to good projects early and at attractive prices.

As such, Mason will use the flotation proceeds to buy six projects, capable of storing 312.5MW of electricity, which will be enough to power 95,000 homes a year.

Harmony has exclusive rights to acquire further sites over the next five years, capable of storing another 687.5MW of power.

There is also a longstanding relationship with Tesla and the US giant has agreed to provide state-of-the-art battery systems for Harmony’s initial portfolio of sites.