We are proud to announce that Amberside Advisors have been supporting Greenvolt Energias Renovaveis SA and their funders with their latest acquisition and refinancing of Kent Renewable Energy Limited (KREL), a CHP biomass EfW facility, in a deal worth ca. £200m. The plant is fully operational and has a production capacity of 28.1 MW of electricity and 25 MWth of heat.
As part of the project, working closely with the client’s adviser, Amberside Advisors have conducted a financial model audit, providing the client with financial model due diligence which helped them secure acquisition funding.
The acquisition of Kent Renewable Energy Limited is the second investment in the UK biomass sector from the Portuguese renewable energy player, following the acquisition of Tilbury Power Plant three years prior, positioning them as one of the top five biomass electricity producers in England. With this acquisition, Greenvolt’s total biomass production capacity now stands at 179.2 MW, including 68.7 MW in England.
KREL Biomass Plant has been operational since September 2018, generating approximately 210.8 GWh of energy in 2023 – enough to supply 50,000 homes and save over 100,000 tons of CO2 every year. Their renewable biomass combined heat and power plant is providing green heat and electricity to Discovery Park, one of Europe’s leading Science and Technology parks, near Sandwich in Kent, UK.
The plant benefits from renewable energy incentives for biomass in the UK – the Renewable Obligations Scheme (ROC) until 2037 and the Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI) until 2039. It is fully aligned with the principles of the circular economy and actively contributes to the UK’s climate goals.
‘We were delighted to support Greenvolt with their latest acquisition, as it allowed us to utilise our financial modelling expertise and combine it with our deep knowledge of the biomass market and renewables industry. Our team diligently verified the consistency of the model assumptions and conducted a range of analysis, giving reassurance in the model outputs initially at bid stage, and then in the run up to the successful completion of the transaction.’ commented Viet Nguyen, Associate Director at Amberside Advisors.
The transaction is expected to be completed no later than by October 2024, subject to customary conditions and approvals, most of which have been obtained.