Octopus Investments has secured £400m (€540m) in financing for its 522MW portfolio of UK solar projects.

The Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) and Investec Bank have closed the syndication for the financing deal of the portfolio.

Projects under the portfolio consist of 74 operational ground-mounted solar projects that Octopus acquired from Lightsource Renewable Energy.

Located across the south-east and west of the UK, the projects are supported with 20-year fixed income tariffs under the UK Government’s Renewables Obligation.

Funding for the solar power portfolio invited interest from multiple banking and institutional investors and was closed oversubscribed.

Investec power and infrastructure lending head Olivier Fricot said: “We are delighted to have closed what is a landmark transaction for the sector with Octopus and Lightsource, two of our long standing relationships.

“It further endorses the expertise of our team in the UK solar and wider renewables sectors where we continue to see strong levels of lending and M&A activity.”

RBS infrastructure and structured finance director Craig Love said: “We are glad that our sector and execution expertise, along with our international distribution network, were able to help deliver the right result for Octopus and its investors.” Then added :

“RBS has been at the forefront of the UK solar market since its inception in 2010, has funded 1.2GW of projects to-date and, despite recent regulatory changes, retains a strong pipeline of solar projects going forward.”

The Cork-based oil and gas exploration company Circle Oil has reported first-half pretax profits of $2.8 million (€2.49m) as against $9.4 million (€8.3m) for the same period a year earlier and $14.7 million for the first six months of 2013.

Circle, which is quoted on the Alternative Investment Market in London, recorded an operating profit of $5.5 million.

The North Africa and Middle East-focused explorer said first-half revenues more than halved to $22.3 million as against $47.8 million for the same period a year ago due to a fall in oil prices and lower production volumes at its assets in Egypt.

The company said it introduced a number of initiatives during the first half of the year to reduce operating costs, particularly with its Moroccan operated assets. The move led to an improvement in gross margin, which account for 43.4 per cent of revenues, compared to 34.4 per cent for the same period last year.

Working capital, trade and other receivables fell to $25.3 million at the end of June from $48.1 million a year earlier. Trade and other payables reduced to $17.4 million from $36.3 million.

Net cashflow from operations totalled $17.8 million compared to $25.1 million for the same period last year reflecting the reduced operating profit for the period. Cash and cash equivalents at the end of June was $17.1 million. This includes substantial cash balances in Morocco, a portion of which the group is currently repatriating.

Net debt at the end of June was $64.4 million.

Irish energy firm ESB announced an operating profit of €337 million, an increase of €10 million on the same period in 2014, although its progress was crimped by factors such as the weakening euro against sterling, according to interim financial statements released last Thursday.

ESB’s Chief Executive, Pat O’Doherty, said: “These results reflect a solid performance in the first half of 2015, while markets continue to be challenging as wholesale electricity prices remain low.

“ESB continues to deliver value for its customers, its shareholders, and for the Irish economy, while maintaining its financial strength and credit rating.”

Profit after tax was €201 million, an increase of €93 million on the same period in 2014.

17 August 2015, source edie newsroom – Europe’s five biggest energy markets have added 8GW of wind and solar capacity in the first half of 2015, a new report has found.

The wind and solar capacities of the UK, Germany, Italy, France and Spain have grown to a combined total of around 175GW, according to Platts Renewable Power Tracker.

Germany added around 2.9GW of wind power in the first six months of 2015, with around 1.8GW of this coming from German North Sea wind farms.

The UK’s installed capacity of solar energy reached 7.7GW, as well as reaching 13.4GW of wind energy. The UK’s combined renewable energy output generated 2.7TWh of energy, according to Platts.

Wind and sun

Unseasonably high winds throughout the summer in Northern Europe and a heatwave around the Mediterranean helped to drive an average of a 25% increase in renewable energy generation in July, according to Platts.

German solar and wind energy outputs hit an all-time high, generating around 11TWh in July and increasing wind output by around 156% year on year.

In the UK, a wet and windy July led to high renewable energy generation in Scotland, with wind turbines powering 72% of Scottish households and generating 660,000MWh of electricity.

Renewable energy generation in the UK has recently hit new highs, generating 19% of the UK’s total electricity requirements. The increase in generation has been driven by developments of wind power, biomass and solar, with the UK’s offshore wind capacity passing 5GW in June this year.

Despite this increase in capacity and generation, renewable energy industry leaders have warned the sector is at risk of being “killed off” by recent changes by the Government to subsidies for renewable energy.

Calon Energy has selected General Electric to upgrade the 800MW Sutton Bridge power plant in Lincolnshire, UK.

The upgrade is intended to increase the energy output of the natural gas-fired, combined-cycle facility by 3.4%, as well as lowering its start-up times and operating costs.

GE will be responsible for upgrading two existing GE 9FA gas turbines and a D-11 steam turbine at the plant. This will be achieved by equipping them with multiple applications from the OpFlex controls software suite, a Dry Low NOx 2.6+ combustor, and advanced gas path (AGP) technology solutions.

The upgrade package deployed at the plant will include OpFlex enhanced transient stability, AutoTune, variable load path, cold-day performance, extended turndown, variable inlet bleed heat, and variable airflow and steam turbine agility applications.

Scope of work will cover installation of steam turbine thermal blankets for improving cold-start capability of the turbines, as well as upgrades to the balance-of-plant equipment.

GE expects to start on the upgrades in mid-2016, and it is likely to take several months to complete.

Calon Energy CEO Kevin McCullough said: “Along with other combined-cycle gas turbine plants in the UK, Sutton Bridge has competed with subsidised renewables, cheap coal and high gas prices.”

GE has been responsible for the operation and maintenance (O&M) of the power station under a multiyear services agreement from 2013.

SSE is one of the largest generators and suppliers of energy in the UK. Langhope Rig is currently nearing construction and consists of 10 GE 1.6 MW wind turbines which GE Energy UK will service under a long-term operations and maintenance agreement. Under the terms of the acquisition agreement, GE Energy Financial Services will own and operate the wind farm once it becomes operational later this year. Langhope Rig is situated approximately 55 miles south of Edinburgh. Its acquisition forms part of GE’s commitment to international expansion, including investment $1 billion annually in renewable energy projects across the globe.

Renewable energy is a core focus area for GE Financial Services which is one of the world’s largest investors in wind power with a portfolio of projects spanning nine countries and a capacity in excess of 14 GW in operation or under construction.

“The Langhope Rig acquisition supports our strategy of investing in high-quality energy assets with experienced partners” said Andrew Marsden, a managing director and European leader at GE Energy Financial Services. “This transaction combines GE’s strengths as a leading supplier of both structured finance and energy technology in an investment underpinned by the UK’s stable wind regime.”

GE Energy Financial Services will honour SSE’s commitments to the existing community investment fund associated with the project.

More than €2bn (£1.6bn) is to be made available for new innovative renewable energy and carbon capture projects, the European Investment Bank (EIB) has announcedThe EIB has raised the funds by completing sales of 300 million emission allowances under the NER300 financing programme, managed jointly by the European Commission, EIB and Member States.
EIB vice president Jonathan Taylor said: “The European Investment Bank is pleased to support future investment in low-carbon demonstration projects.
“Successful completion of monetisation of carbon allowances under the NER300 scheme will help both carbon capture and storage schemes and innovative renewable energy projects across Europe reach a commercial scale,” he added.

Under the second phase of NER300, €548m was raised and a total of 33 project applications were received.

During the first phase, which ended in September 2012, more than €1.5bn was raised, of which €1.2bn was awarded to 23 projects out of 79 applications examined.

“We will continue to work closely with the European Commission to ensure that the best applicants can be awarded proceeds raised from the ground-breaking NER 300 scheme,” added Taylor. Monetisation of the last 100 million EU allowances ended on 11 April, 2014 and no further sales will take place under the NER300 initiative now that the full volume has been reached.

Meanwhile, research released earlier this week showed that global ‘clean energy’ investment increased 14% year-on-year in the first quarter of 2014, with the sector totalling $61bn (£36bn) in the first quarter of 2014, up from the $53.4bn invested in the corresponding period in 2013.