JLEN Environmental Assets Group acquires an anaerobic digestion plant

LONDON: JLEN, the listed environmental infrastructure fund, announced the acquisition of Warren Power Limited (WPL) for an initial consideration, including working capital, of £14.8 million subject to additional deferred payments up to £0.8 million. WPL owns 100% of the equity in Warren Energy Limited (WEL), which holds the rights and operational assets that make up the anaerobic digestion (AD) plant.

The Warren AD plant is located in Methwold, Norfolk, was commissioned in December 2015 and became operational in March 2016. The plant has a thermal capacity of c.5MWth and predominantly produces biomethane to be injected to the national gas grid. In addition, the plant also has a 0.5MWe CHP engine and is accredited under the Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI) and Feed-in-Tariff (FiT) schemes.

The Warren AD plant has been acquired from EIS funds managed by Amersham Investment Management Ltd and minority shareholders, Future Biogas Ltd (“FBL”).  FBL will continue to provide management, operations and maintenance services to the AD plant after the acquisition. FBL and JLEN have an existing relationship in relation to other AD assets, including the Vulcan, Merlin, Biogas Meden, Egmere and Grange Farm plants, in the Company’s portfolio.

This acquisition increases the total capacity of renewable energy assets in the JLEN investment portfolio to 286.2MW and further diversifies the Company’s portfolio.

The acquisition was funded by a draw-down on JLEN’s revolving credit facility.

Richard Morse, Chairman of JLEN, said: “We are pleased with JLEN’s continued investment in the anaerobic digestion sector, with this acquisition of its second AD plant in Norfolk, complementing JLEN’s Egmere plant located nearby. We also value this opportunity to conclude a second transaction with Amersham and look forward to working with our partner, Future Biogas, to continue the strong performance of this asset.”