Investment in additional hydroelectric assets

RNS Number : 3543V

Triple Point Energy Efficiency

13 December 2021

 

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13 December 2021

Triple Point Energy Efficiency Infrastructure Company plc

("TEEC" or the "Company" or, together with its subsidiaries, the "Group")

Investment in additional hydroelectric power assets

Further to the announcement on 29 November 2021, the Board of Directors of Triple Point Energy Efficiency Infrastructure Company plc (ticker: TEEC) is pleased to announce that the Group has acquired a further three operational, Feed in Tariff (" FiT ") accredited, "run of the river" hydroelectric power projects in Scotland (the " Hydro Assets ") for an aggregate consideration of £19.6 million (excluding costs). The three Hydro Assets have a total installed capacity of 2.5MW, and all have five years or more of operational performance history.

This investment forms part of the original portfolio of nine assets identified in the IPO prospectus, the first six of which were acquired in November 2021. These Hydro Assets were also acquired from entities advised by the Investment Manager and, as a result, additional measures were implemented and carefully monitored to manage any potential conflict of interest appropriately, including dedicated buy and sell side teams within the Investment Manager and obtaining an independent third-party valuation. In accordance with the IPO Prospectus, the Board was required to approve the transaction and the Directors were satisfied by the conflict management procedures put in place.

These Hydro Assets:

· All benefit from the FiT and a price floor (the " Export Tariff "). To the extent the Hydro Assets are able to secure prices higher than the Export Tariff, they are able to enter power purchase agreements (" PPAs ") with commerical offtakers.

· Have a remaining FiT period of c.14 years, and a useful life beyond the remaining FiT period of a further 20 years, during which the Hydro Assets would be operated as unsubsidised assets selling power to the grid through PPAs.

· Are each subject to a long-term lease with the local landowners, which cover the expected useful life of the asset, with rent based on a percentage of gross income of the asset. They are also subject to an operations and management contract with Green Highland Renewables, one of the UK's leading developers of "run of the river" hydropower schemes.

The Investment Manager has identified a number of opportunities to optimise the efficiency of the overall hydro asset portfolio, in particular, to help to regulate the flow feeding existing intake, protecting against periods of unusually high or low rainfall, thus increasing overall generation. Such projects will also be valuable in regulating power generation in the future when the assets are subject only to PPAs.

The complete portfolio of nine hydro assets has been assessed to deliver nearly 4,000 tCO2e of avoided emissions per annum based on average generation assumptions and modelling indicates that performance of the assets is relatively robust under climate change scenarios which see increasing seasonality and extremes of precipitation and river flows. The whole hydro asset portfolio has also been developed in line with the Scottish Environmental Protection Agency (SEPA) biodiversity standards for "run of the river" hydroelectric power schemes, for example with relevant measures in place to enable the safe passage of fish.

The transaction is aligned with the Company's targeted risk/return profile and objective of delivering secure investments that generate a total return for investors comprising sustainable and growing income and capital growth. It also supports the transition to a low carbon economy in accordance with the UK government's overall environmental targets.

John Roberts, the Company's Chairman, said:

"I am pleased that TEEC has been able to acquire these three remaining Hydro Assets, shortly following the acquisition of the initial six Hydro Assets. Following this acquisition, the Company has now substantially deployed the net proceeds from the IPO and we look forward to updating the market in due course with further information on the Company and its pipeline of attractive investment opportunities."

For further information, please contact:

Triple Point Investment Management LLP Jonathan Parr Jonathan Hick	(via FTI below)
Akur Limited (Financial Adviser) Tom Frost Anthony Richardson Siobhan Sergeant	020 7493 3631
RBC Capital Markets (Joint Broker) Matthew Coakes Jill Li Kathryn Deegan	020 7653 4000
Winterflood Securities (Joint broker) Neil Langford Hande Derinkok	020 3100 0000
FTI Consulting Ed Berry Mitch Barltrop	07703 330 199 07807 296 032

LEI: 213800UDP142E67X9X28

Further information on the Company can be found on its website: www.tpenergyefficiency.com .

NOTES:

The Company is a recently incorporated investment trust which invests exclusively in a diversified portfolio of Energy Efficiency assets in the UK, which have a positive environmental impact. The Company's investments will focus on the core sectors of low carbon heat distribution; social housing retrofit and industrial energy efficiency; and distributed generation.

The Investment Manager is Triple Point Investment Management LLP ("Triple Point") which is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority. Triple Point manages private, institutional, and public capital, and has a proven track record of investment in Energy Efficiency and decentralised energy generation projects. In 2018, Triple Point was appointed as the Delivery Partner to BEIS, a department of the UK government, to deliver the £320 million Heat Networks Investment Project ("HNIP").

The Company was admitted to trading on the Specialist Fund Segment of the Main Market of the London Stock Exchange on 19 October 2020 and was awarded the London Stock Exchange's Green Economy Mark.

 

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