News

Financial Close for the Provision of Over 200MW of Standby Power to Balance UK Grid

4 April 2019 Investments
The Environmental Infrastructure team of InfraRed Capital Partners Limited (InfraRed) is pleased to announce the completion of its investment in junior debt and equity in Green Frog Power Limited (GFP) to develop 14 new electricity plants across the U.K. and the securing of £60m of senior debt funding for GFP from the Royal Bank of Scotland Group.

The funding will help InfraRed and GFP to develop, construct and operate the new power plants which will provide stand-by generation to the National Grid in the UK as part of its short-term operating reserve (STOR*). The plants will have an overall capacity which exceeds 200MW. GFP supplies back-up power to the National Grid when other utility companies are unable to supply sufficient power to meet demand, either because a plant or network is unavailable or due to wind-related issues.

Construction of the plants has commenced and is expected to complete in February 2013.

James Hall-Smith, Director, said: “The securing of £60m of senior debt from RBS alongside the £20m of junior debt and equity provided by InfraRed is an important milestone for the Green Frog Power business. It secures the funding which is needed to build out the 14 power plants and makes an important contribution to balancing the UK electricity grid as more wind farms are built. The business offers high quality and long-term visibility of earnings for its investors”.

*STOR is one of a number of balancing services procured by National Grid Electricity Transmission plc to ensure that additional power, in the form of either generation or demand reduction, is available as and when it is required. STOR plants are called upon to deal with actual demand being greater than forecast demand and/or unforeseen generation unavailability.

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