Utility Week

UTILITY WEEK | 11TH - 17TH JANUARY 2019 | 15 Finance & Investment This week Greencoat to buy no- subsidy wind project Fund will pay £45 million to Blue Energy for the onshore windfarm near Lanark in Scotland Greencoat UK Wind has agreed to buy the 45MW Douglas West onshore wind project near Lanark in Scotland from Blue Energy. The windfarm is being built without the support of any government subsidies. Construc tion work is due to begin in 2019, with commissioning scheduled for July 2021. The fund will pay £45 million for the project, includ ing both acquisition and construction costs. The trans action is expected to be completed in early 2019. In October, Greencoat UK Wind agreed to buy a 75 per cent stake in the Tom nan Clach windfarm from Bell town Power for £126 million. The 39MW project, located in Nairnshire in Scotland, secured a contract for differ ence (CfD) in the first auction round in 2015. It is under construction and due to be completed in June 2019. Commenting on the latest deal, the fund's chairman Tim Ingram said: "Douglas West will sit alongside our existing 32 ROC [Renewables Obligation Certificate] investments and, with Tom nan Clach also incorporated, will increase our generating capacity to 910MW." Greencoat Capital partner Stephen Lilley added: "During 2018 we have continued to build our portfolio with investments and commitments totalling over £500 million, of which approximately 70 per cent are in ROC accredited windfarms. Although we are starting to see attractive CfD and subsidyfree investment opportuni ties, we expect the majority of future investments will continue to be made from the £50 billion pool of UK windfarms accredited under the ROC regime." TG ENERGY Bristol Energy posts £11.2 million loss Councilowned supplier Bristol Energy has posted an £11.2 million loss in the year to 31 March 2018. Financial documents posted at Companies House show that aer tax, the total loss for the financial year was £11,205,533. The company said the losses outlined are "in the range" of what was expected. A spokesperson said: "During the financial year 2017/18, Bristol Energy's residential customers on supply grew by over 62,000 customers. We doubled our busi ness customers supply volume, turn over increased nearly four fold and the company's gross margin grew by over £3 million. "The losses outlined in our latest accounts are in the range of what was expected as we continue to build on the solid position we've established within the sector." Managing director Peter Haigh, who helped launch the firm in 2015, stepped down just before Christmas. Bristol Energy's finance director Marek Majewicz is interim managing director. WATER Yorkshire invests £7.7m in treatment Yorkshire Water will plough £7.7 million into two wastewater treatment works in north Yorkshire as part of a wider £70 million investment to improve 196km of water courses. The company will spend £5.2 million at Thirsk and £2.5 million at Bedale waste water treatment works to improve the quality of water returned to the local water courses, Bedale Beck and Cod Beck, aer treatment. ENERGY Subsidies revoked from EfW plant The Low Carbon Contracts Company (LCCC) has withdrawn subsidies from a 15MW energy fromwaste (EfW) project in Derbyshire. Future Earth Energy secured a contract for difference (CfD) for the Drakelow Renewable Energy Centre in the most recent auc tion in 2017 at a strike price of almost £75/MWh (2012 prices). The agreement has now been terminated aer the developer failed to demonstrate sufficient progress on the project by its milestone delivery date. The LCCC has also announced that three further projects have passed their first delivery milestone. These consist of two EfW projects – Black bridge (5.5MW) and Northacre Renewable Energy Centre (25.5MW) – and the Neart Na Gaoithe offshore wind project (448MW). Piece work: construction is due to begin in 2019 Stock watch 170 160 150 140 130 120 CENTRICA SHARE PRICE, FIVE DAY CENTRICA SHARE PRICE, SIX MONTH Centrica shares took a hit on Monday aer investment firm Jefferies downgraded the British Gas owner from buy to hold, citing a list of problems for the company, including the suspension of capacity market payments, a high rate of customer churn and the introduction of the price cap on default tariffs. Aer closing the previous week at 137p, the shares dropped to 130p in the opening hours of trading on Monday – a fall of more than 5 per cent. 140 135 130 125 3 Jan 4 Jan 7 Jan 8 Jan pence pence Aug 2018 Oct 2018 Dec 2018

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