Helius Completes Funding $99 Million Power Plant Using Waste From Whisky
Rabobank Group acquired an equity stake in a 60.5 million-pound ($99 million) Scottish project that will use waste from malt whisky to generate electricity for 9,000 homes.
The Dutch financial services group has almost 45 percent of the venture in Rothes, northern Scotland, according to its developer, Helius Energy Plc. (HEGY) That transaction completes funding for the facility that’s set to be operational in 2013, London- based Helius said today in a statement.
Helius, a developer of biomass energy plants, will hold a 50 percent stake, plus one share. The company already obtained a non-recourse loan of 42.4 million pounds with Lloyds TSB Bank Plc and the Royal Bank of Scotland. That loan accounts for 70 percent of the project’s cost and matures in 14 years -- covering two years of construction and 12 of operation, Helius Chief Financial Officer Alan Lyons said today by telephone.
“We see this as quite a significant deal in the market,” Lyons said. “It underlines that the U.K. banking market is open for business for renewable energy and is definitely able to fund biomass projects,” he said.
Rabobank’s stake in the project’s company, Helius Corde Ltd., may be worth about 9.3 million pounds, according to the financing structure outlined in the statement.
The Combination of Rothes Distillers Ltd., a joint venture of seven distillery companies, holds 5.3 percent in Helius Corde. Together Helius and Rothes Distillers have invested 8.8 million pounds in the project.
Rabobank, which acquired 44.7 percent minus one share through Rabo Project Equity BV, declined to comment on its level of investment when contacted by e-mail.
Draff, Pot Ale Syrup
The project will use draff, the wet barley byproduct from whisky making, and burn it in a boiler with wood to raise steam that drives a turbine producing electricity. It will generate 7.2 megawatts of clean power. The pot ale syrup, another whisky byproduct, can be used in cattle feed.
In addition Helius started speaking with debt providers about loans for a 100-megawatt biomass plant it’s planning to build in Bristol, England. That project at a consented site in Avonmouth would cost about 300 million pounds and Helius would seek a similar debt portion of about 70 percent, Lyons said. It expects financial close late this year or early 2012, he said. The plant would burn woodchips to produce electricity.
To contact the reporter responsible for this story: Sally Bakewell in London at Sbakewell1@bloomberg.net
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