VH
Global Sustainable Energy Opportunities plc
28
March 2024
VH Global
Sustainable Energy Opportunities has agreed to acquire and build
two solar and storage hybrid sites in Australia for
£16.9m
VH Global Sustainable Energy
Opportunities plc (the "Company" or "GSEO") - the London-listed
company managed by Victory Hill Capital Partners LLP focused on the
energy infrastructure that is essential for the global transition
towards net zero - is pleased to announce that it has agreed to
acquire and build two fully-permitted solar PV sites with
co-located battery energy storage systems ("BESS") in New South
Wales ("NSW"), Australia for a total consideration of £16.9m. This
investment is part of the Australian solar PV and storage
investment programme (the "Australian Energy Transition Programme")
as announced on 2 August 2021. With this investment the aggregate
commitment to the programme has increased from the initial
commitment of £50m to £58.5m, reflecting the progressive increase
in cost of BESS procurement on the hybridised sites since initial
investment was approved.
As previously announced, Phase I of
the Australian Energy Transition Programme consisted of the
acquisition of two operating solar PV sites in South Australia and
Queensland with a combined peak capacity of 17MW (connected
capacity of 12MW). Phase II involved the construction of co-located
BESS to the South Australian asset, which was successfully
completed in July 2023. The Company subsequently acquired and
constructed three new solar PV sites of 4.95MW, located in NSW,
which was completed in Q1 2024. Installation works for the
co-located BESS to all three NSW sites has commenced and the sites
are expected to be hybridised in Q4 2024.
Today's announcement adds two 4.95MW
solar PV sites in NSW to the programme, with co-located 2-hour BESS
on each site, bringing the total capacity of the Australian Energy
Transition Programme to 37MW/60MWh, across seven assets.
The construction of these two hybrid sites is
expected to begin in Q2 2024, with completion expected in early
2025.
As with the South Australian hybrid
project, which successfully captured more attractive power prices
in the intraday market following the addition of the two-hour BESS,
co-locating solar PV and BESS provides the system with additional
renewable energy. It also supports grid stability with the storage
solution, allowing the assets to better serve the needs of the
Australian power market in its energy transition. Notably, GSEO
expects to gain access to additional energy arbitrage as well as
frequency stability services revenue streams from the co-located
BESS.
Once fully operational, the
portfolio is expected to combine merchant sales, frequency
stability services revenues, long-term offtake contracts and sales
of large-scale generation (green) certificates.
This additional investment to the
Australian Energy Transition Programme is expected to support the
Company in meeting its target total NAV return and annual
dividend.
Birdwood Energy, our existing
Australian operating partner, will serve as operating partner for
these two additional sites. Birdwood Energy is an Australian
specialist developer and manager in the renewable sector, with more
than 25 years' experience in battery storage and renewable power
generation development and operation.
Richard Lum, Co-CIO of Victory Hill
Capital Partners commented:
"We continue to make progress with
the continued build out of our Australian solar and energy storage
hybrid programme. Once operational, these assets will play a
meaningful role in providing needed renewable generation into the
Australian energy system, as well as helping the system on its
transition pathway to net zero. Furthermore, investors are offered
a means to access interesting market pricing margins in a risk
adjusted way, given we aim to hedge half of all production. We
believe that the Australian market continues to offer excellent
opportunities to support this ongoing transition towards net
zero."
GSEO continues to support the global
energy transition, with its investors benefiting from NAV growth
and a progressive income stream. The Company targets a total
unlevered NAV return of 10%, net of fees, and a progressive annual
dividend per share, covered 1.1x as at 31 December 2023, paid
quarterly (currently targeting 5.68p for the year ended 31 December
2024, a 2.9% increase vs the previous year). As further projects
achieve operational status, the dividend coverage is expected to
strengthen. The Company's operational assets benefit from over 90%
of contracted revenues. Total leverage of the Company is 1.9% of
NAV, which only includes asset-level leverage to its US
asset.
www.vh-gseo.com
The Company's LEI is
213800RFHAOF372UU580.
For further information:
Edelman Smithfield (PR Adviser)
Ged
Brumby
+ 44 (0)7540 412 301
Victory Hill Capital Partners LLP (Investment
Manager)
Navin
Chauhan
info@victory-hill.com
Deutsche Numis (Corporate Broker)
David
Benda
+44 (0)20 7260 1000
Matt Goss
Apex Fund and Corporate Services (UK) Limited (Company
Secretary)
ukfundcosec@apexfs.com
About Victory Hill Capital Partners LLP
Victory Hill Capital Partners
LLP ("Victory Hill") is authorised and regulated by
the Financial Conduct Authority (FRN
961570).
Victory Hill is based
in London and was founded in May 2020 by an
experienced team of energy financiers that spun-out of a large
established global project finance banking group. The team has
participated in more than $200bn in transaction values
across 91 conventional and renewable energy-related transactions in
over 30 jurisdictions worldwide. Victory Hill is the investment
manager of the Company.
The Victory Hill team deploys its
experience across different financial disciplines in order to
assess investments holistically from multiple points of view. The
firm pursues operational stability and well-designed corporate
governance to generate sustainable positive returns for investors.
It focuses on supporting and accelerating the energy transition and
the attainment of the UN sustainable development goals.
Victory Hill is a signatory of the
United Nations Principles for Responsible Investing (UN PRI), the
United Nations Global Compact (UN GC), Net Zero Asset Managers
Initiative (NZAMI), a member of the Global Impact Investing Network
(GIIN) and is a formal supporter of the Financial Stability Board's
Task-Force on Climate-related Disclosures (TCFD).