SIMEC Atlantis Energy Ltd (LON:SAE) is buying the project development, consulting and operation and maintenance (O&M) activities of Scottish mini-hydro specialist Green Highland Renewables (GHR), it announced today.
Atlantis will acquire the assets from SIMEC Energy for a nominal cash sum of GBP 1.00 (USD 1.3/EUR 1.2). The transaction excludes GHR’s operational and construction assets, which have been sold separately to an infrastructure fund, the announcement says.
Earlier this year, Atlantis was supposed to take over GHR for an enterprise value of GBP 124.7 million, but it cancelled the agreed transaction in late June and instead raised additional funds for the execution of its 220-MW Uskmouth waste-to-energy conversion project in Wales. Now, the company has agreed to acquire GHR’s project development, asset management and O&M operations, along with all key staff, intellectual property (IP) and know how with the idea of beefing up Atlantis’ own energy development and asset management team.
“This restructured transaction is the right outcome for Atlantis. It provides us with more near-term cash to deploy on our flagship Uskmouth and MeyGen projects which will deliver the largest possible returns for investors,” commented Tim Cornelius, CEO of Atlantis.
To date, GHR has consented more than 65 hydro schemes and built more than 45 hydro plants. It also provides O&M services for over 45 assets in the UK and will continue to do so for the plants that are being sold separately to the unnamed infrastructure fund.
Also on Thursday, Atlantis said it has awarded a contract to carry out the design and development of the combustion system for the Uskmouth conversion project to Mitsubishi Hitachi Power Systems Europe GmbH (MHPS Europe), which is part of Mitsubishi Hitachi Power Systems Ltd, in turn a joint venture between Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd (TYO:7011) and Hitachi Ltd (TYO:6501). The contract covers certain final validation tests that are required to award the major engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contract for the supply of the full combustion system.
The particular project represents the world’s first conversion of a power station from coal to 100% waste derived fuel, Atlantis noted, adding that it aims to achieve financial close in the third quarter of 2020. Generation is planned to start in 2021.
(GBP 1.0 = USD 1.294/EUR 1.161)
Choose your newsletter by Renewables Now. Join for free!
The Uskmouth power station in Wales. Author: Reading Tom. License: Attribution 2.0 Generic (CC BY 2.0)
