Utility Week

UTILITY WEEK | 19TH - 25TH JULY 2019 | 19 Finance & Investment This week Nationalisation plans 'spook' ENW bidders Reports say auction hit by uncertainty in the wake of Labour's public ownership plans Potential bidders in the sale of Electricity North West (ENW) have been "spooked" by the Labour party's plans to rena- tionalise the network opera- tors, according to reports in the Financial Times. Final bids in the auction, reportedly being run by Citi- group, were due last month. But sources told the news outlet that the process has been hit by political uncertainty a€er the Labour party in May published proposals to take energy networks back into public ownership. The sale of ENW could fetch more than £2 billion and has piqued significant investor interest, say energy experts. According to previous reports, the five potential bidders include Hong Kong-based Cheung Kong Infra- structure, which holds a 40 per cent stake in UK Power Networks, and the Spanish utility Iberdrola, which owns SP Energy Networks through its parent company Scottish Power. Three asset management firms were also said to be in the running – Equitix and Brookfield as well as a joint venture between State Grid Corporation of China and China Southern Power Grid. ENW is jointly owned by infrastructure funds man- aged by JP Morgan and Colonial First State. ENW, Citi and JP Morgan Asset Management declined to comment. ENW's chief executive Peter Emery recently told Utility Week's sister title Network: "We are undergoing a strategic review. That is no secret. The challenge for me and my senior team is to manage that process efficiently and professionally whilst at the same time run the busi- ness as business as usual. What we've said is that the strategic review may lead to a sale of the business." AJ ENERGY Shell invests in US blockchain platform The US-based peer-to-peer energy trading platform LO3 has revealed it has secured "major investments" from Shell Ventures and the Sumitomo Corporation Group. It said the investments would support the "global development"of its blockchain- based community energy trading networks. LO3 is behind the Brooklyn Microgrid platform in New York, which was one of the first peer-to-peer blockchain energy platforms in the world and has also been working with Centrica on its local energy market trials in Cornwall. The company now runs projects with various partners around the world, including in Colombia, Japan and Australia. Lawrence Orsini, LO3 Energy's chief executive, said: "Energy is going through a revolution with renewable distributed energy resources increasingly picking up market share – but to integrate them efficiently we need to re-invent our energy networks. "These investments will help us accelerate the rollout of less carbon-intensive microgrids, which help all stakeholders ben- efit through distributed, decen- tralised and decarbonised local energy transactions and demand response energy management on a building-by-building level," he added. Kirk Coburn, an investment director at Shell Ventures added: "Shell aims to invest in innova- tive companies that will help enable the energy transition." ELECTRICITY Lithium mining firm seeks crowdfunding A company that aims to mine lithium for batteries in Corn- wall has launched a £1 million crowdfunding campaign. Cornish Lithium will use the money raised on Crowdcube to continue drilling and expand exploration in the region. The company was founded in 2016 with the aim of investigat- ing the possibility of extracting lithium from geothermal waters, which occur naturally deep beneath the surface in Cornwall. Lithium was first identified in underground hot springs in 1864 by Professor Miller of Kings College, London. Cornish Lithium believes these hot springs could be "commercially significant". The company has already secured agreements across a large area of Cornwall with the holders of mineral rights and is now engaged in a widespread exploration programme across the county. "The potential to develop a new industry in Cornwall, focused on metals which will be key to a low-carbon future, could be of huge importance for the future of British indus- try," said chief executive Jeremy Wrathall. Emery: strategic review of ENW business Engenie, an electric vehicle (EV) rapid charging network, has announced it has received a £35 million investment from a European infrastructure fund. The funding from Cube Infrastructure Fund II will help the company meet its ambition to double the number of rapid charge points in the UK by 2024. Ian Johnston, chief execu- tive of Engenie, said: "The EV ELECTRICITY Engenie receives £35m investment for EV chargers tipping point is coming and this significant investment commit- ment positions us at the forefront of this burgeoning market." Engenie plans to have installed rapid chargers at more than 100 sites by Christmas. Once the network is com- plete, the company says it could serve 5 million EVs a year, removing up to 25 tonnes of nitrous oxides annually. In the past year, Engenie has announced partnerships with Marston's Inns and Taverns, M7 Real Estate and Cardiff Council. It has previously secured £5 million from Investec. Renaud de Matharel, chief executive of Cube Infrastructure Managers, said: "With transpor- tation representing about 40 per cent of total energy consump- tion in the UK and air pollu- tion becoming a fast-growing concern, we see new mobility solutions as a critical factor in achieving energy transition targets and implementing climate change policies. By investing in Engenie, we intend to accelerate the deployment of its rapid EV charging infrastructure, provid- ing over the long term an increas- ingly essential service to local communities across the UK."

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