Utility Week

UTILITY WEEK | 17TH - 23RD JANUARY 2020 | 15 Finance & Investment An energy services company that floated on the stock exchange on 9 January is seeking to acquire an energy broker, its chief executive has said. Speaking on the first day of flotation on the AIM market, Harvey Sinclair, the chief executive of eEnergy Group, told Utility Week his company was engaged in a number of conversations. ENERGY Newly floated energy services company eyes strategic acquisitions The company describes itself as an "energy efficiency service" specialist. Its trading arm eLight works with organisations such as schools to help them switch to LED lighting for a fixed monthly cost. It claims the energy savings for customers are greater than the monthly service fee, allow- ing them to "unlock free cash flow from day one". eLight procures, funds, installs and maintains the LED lighting. Sinclair said eEnergy is looking to buy a business in the energy management space. He said: "We have been embarking on conversations with a handful of what we think are very strategic, very high- quality energy management consultancies that have got very Decade begins with triple boost for wind Plans for two onshore wind farms are submitted and construction of offshore wind farm is started The new decade has begun with three steps forward for the wind industry. • EDF Renewables has unveiled plans to create a new 110MW onshore wind farm called Garn Fach near Newtown in Wales. The project, which will be built without subsidies, is expected to consist of 22 turbines, each producing up to 5MW of electricity. The company has submitted an environmental scoping report to the Welsh government as well as an application to Powys County Council to erect a meteorological mast at the site to gather accurate wind speed data. It expects to submit a planning application at the end of 2020. • Swedish energy company Vattenfall has submitted a planning application for a 77MW wind farm in the north of Scotland. Clashindarroch II, which is expected to feature 14 turbines of up to 6MW each, would be built to the north east of its 37MW sister project in Aberdeenshire. The wind farm would produce enough power to meet the needs of 55,000 households. • Innogy has begun offshore construction of the 857MW Triton Knoll wind farm, which was one of three offshore wind projects to win a contract for difference (CfD) in the 2017 auction. The crane vessel Seaway Strashnov arrived on site earlier this month and will begin installing the monopile foundations for the 90 turbines that will make up the wind farm as soon as weather allows. Two offshore substation platforms and 600km of subsea cables will also be installed this year. Installation of the 9.5MW turbines will begin in 2021. TG ELECTRICITY Octopus Renewables to invest £185m of Grid pension funds National Grid has given a mandate to Octopus Renewables to invest up to £185 million from its corporate pension scheme for the UK over the next 25 years. The assets will be held by a new fund named Renewable Energy Income Partnership III. As the name suggests, it will be the third such fund to be created and managed by Octopus Renewables. "We are delighted to embark on this long-term partnership with the National Grid UK Pension Scheme [NGUKPS]," said Alex Brierley, co-head of Octopus Renewables. "With predictable income, diversification and sustain- able investment all at the forefront of institutional investors' minds, this commit- ment by NGUKPS shows that our Renewable Energy Income Partnership series continues to provide an attractive solution for investors." Deniz Sevincer, co-head of institutional funds at Octopus Investments, commented: "We recognise that each institutional fund mandate is unique. "Our scale, experience and origination capability puts us in the unrivalled position to provide the flexibility needed to create a bespoke offering that matches the National Grid UK Pension Scheme's objectives." Octopus Renewables already manages 2.5GW of generation assets. ELECTRICITY Western Power Distribution seeks 344MW of flexibility Western Power Distribution (WPD) has launched a tender for 344MW of flexibility – the largest to date for a distribution network operator in Britain. The tender covers 175 primary substations across 42 constraint management zones, represent- ing one-fi®h of its entire net- work. The services are required for 2021/22. Network strategy manager Ben Godfrey said: "Our fi®h and largest procurement round delivers on our commitment to open our RIIO-ED1 load-related reinforcement requirements up to the market. "The move to a decarbonised energy system is changing the way we plan and operate our network. Having flexibility in these areas is crucial in enabling us to optimise investment and respond quickly to uncertainty." Flexibility providers will be able to bid through Piclo, Cornwall Local Energy Market or WPD's own Flexible Power platform. An invitation to tender will be issued to all parties that have registered an interest on 3 February. The deadline for submissions is 13 March and the results will be announced on 1 April. Under way: Triton Knoll wind farm construction strong track records, very high renewal rates and are more than just brokers. "Typically speaking we are looking at £500,000 to £1 million EBITDA performance businesses that have a strategic relevance to our business." The flotation, which raised £2 million, followed the reverse takeover of Alexander Mining by eLight. This week

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