Amber Infrastructure (‘Amber’) is pleased to announce that Transmission Capital Partners, the consortium comprising Amber, International Public Partnerships Limited (‘INPP’) and Transmission Investment (‘the Consortium’), has successfully reached financial close for the long-term ownership and ongoing operation of the East Anglia One Offshore Transmission assets (the ‘OFTO’).
The project will be INPP’s tenth OFTO investment and relates to the transmission cable connection to the offshore wind farm located approximately 50km off the coast of Suffolk. The wind farm consists of 102 x 7MW wind turbine generators with an installed capacity of 714MW connected to the offshore substation platform ('OSP') located within the boundaries of the East Anglia One wind farm.
This investment will further increase INPP’s contribution to the UK's transition to a net zero carbon economy. The East Anglia One OFTO has the capacity to transmit enough renewable electricity to power the equivalent of over 600,000 homes, increasing the total equivalent across INPP’s OFTO portfolio to c.2.7 million homes.
East Anglia One OFTO has no exposure to electricity production or price risk but is paid a pre-agreed, availability-based revenue stream over 21.5 years which is linked to UK inflation (as measured by the Retail Price Index (‘RPI’)).
INPP will make a c.£107 million investment for 100% of the equity and subordinated debt in TC East Anglia OFTO Ltd. Project level senior debt will be provided by a group of banks to match the maturity of the OFTO revenue period such that there is no refinancing risk.
Other key investment highlights include:
- An operational and immediately yielding asset with no construction or refinancing risk;
- A 21.5-year availability-based revenue stream with protected downside whereby maximum potential deductions will be capped at 10% of base revenue in any year;
- The operations and maintenance of the OFTO assets will be subcontracted to a set of specialist contractors incentivised to maximise availability of the transmission assets;
- The returns generated from INPP's investment are highly correlated to UK RPI and are not subject to any revenue or penalty exposure to windfarm performance; and
- Revenues are contracted by a subsidiary of National Grid, the National Grid Electricity System Operator (NGESO; rated Baa1 Moody’s) in their statutory ring-fenced role as electricity systems operator (‘ESO’).
The investment has been funded using the remaining proceeds from INPP’s 2022 capital raise as well as its revolving credit facility. Following the East Anglia One OFTO investment, INPP’s £250 million revolving credit facility will be c.£29 million drawn, with c.£17 million committed via letters of credit for near-term pipeline investments. INPP notes that it is also preferred bidder on Moray East OFTO, with an expected investment of c.£100 million[1].
A copy of the Ofgem press release can be found at https://www.ofgem.gov.uk/news-media/latest-news-press-releases.
For further information:
Erica Sibree/Amy Edwards T: +44 (0) 7557 676 499 / (0) 7827 238 355 Amber Fund Management Limited |
Hugh Jonathan T: +44 (0)20 7260 1263 Numis Securities |
Ed Berry/Mitch Barltrop T: +44 (0) 7703 330 199 / (0) 7807 296 032 FTI Consulting |
Amber Infrastructure Group
Amber Infrastructure (‘Amber’) is a specialist international investment manager, focused on investment origination, asset management and fund management. With over €5.5 billion in funds under management, Amber invests across eight funds and a number of managed accounts.
Amber’s core business focuses on sourcing, developing, advising, investing in and managing infrastructure assets across the public, transport, energy, digital and demographic infrastructure sectors that support the lives of people, homes and businesses internationally.
Amber is headquartered in London with offices in Europe, North America and Australia and employs over 170 infrastructure professionals.
[1] The estimated investment amount has increased from the £75 million published in INPP’s Interim Report due to the market environment and fluctuating interest rates. Please note that projected returns are not adversely affected.