TIDMHEIT
RNS Number : 7588J
Harmony Energy Income Trust PLC
15 December 2022
THIS ANNOUNCEMENT AND THE INFORMATION CONTAINED IN IT ARE NOT
FOR RELEASE, PUBLICATION, TRANSMISSION, FORWARDING OR DISTRIBUTION,
DIRECTLY OR INDIRECTLY, IN WHOLE OR IN PART, IN OR INTO OR FROM THE
UNITED STATES OR ANY JURISDICTION WHERE TO DO SO MIGHT CONSTITUTE A
VIOLATION OF LOCAL APPLICABLE SECURITIES LAWS OR REGULATIONS.
THIS ANNOUNCEMENT CONTAINS INSIDE INFORMATION FOR THE PURPOSES
OF ARTICLE 7 OF REGULATION (EU) NO 596/2014 WHICH IS PART OF UK LAW
BY VIRTUE OF THE EUROPEAN UNION (WITHDRAWAL) ACT 2018 ("MAR"). UPON
PUBLICATION OF THIS ANNOUNCEMENT, THE INSIDE INFORMATION IS NOW
CONSIDERED TO BE IN THE PUBLIC DOMAIN FOR THE PURPOSES OF MAR.
15 December 2022
Harmony Energy Income Trust plc
(the "Company" or "HEIT")
Acquisition of Three Pipeline Projects
Harmony Energy Income Trust plc, which invests in energy storage
assets in Great Britain, is pleased to announce that it has
completed the acquisition of three 'shovel-ready' pipeline projects
totalling 181.9 MW / 363.8 MWh, increasing the Company's portfolio
to nine battery energy storage system ("BESS") projects with a
total capacity of c.500MW / 1GWh.
The Company has acquired the projects pursuant to the Pipeline
Agreement entered into on IPO which granted the Company a right of
first refusal of up to 1GW of BESS projects, from Harmony Energy
Limited ("HEL") and Ritchie Bland Energy No. 2 Ltd (together the
"Developers") . The total consideration for the three projects is
c. GBP21.5 million (supported by independent valuation) being
satisfied through the net proceeds of the recent C Share Issue in
conjunction with the issue of 7 million new C Shares to the
Developers.
The three projects, known as Wormald Green, Hawthorn Pit and Rye
Common (Phases I and II), are expected to be energized in Q1 2024,
Q2 2024 and Q3 2024 respectively, with grid offers secured. As
previously announced, Harmony Energy Advisors Limited (the
"Investment Adviser") conducted a tender process for the supply of
battery systems for this batch of projects and pursuant to that
process, has agreed material terms with the selected supplier of
the 2-hour duration battery systems.
The Company has also agreed terms to increase borrowing under
its existing loan facility to enable it to draw down on the
previously agreed accordion, alongside drawdown of funds pursuant
to a new Revolving Credit Facility. The funds available to the
Company, through this borrowing and its cash resources, will fund
the construction of the Wormald Green and Hawthorn Pit projects as
well as the remaining Grid payments for Rye Common, which are
essential to maintain that project's timeline. The combined
facility will increase the total debt available to ca. GBP130
million, subject to final signing. A lternative funding options for
the build-out of Rye Common are currently being considered.
The Investment Adviser is currently tendering for revenue
optimisation services and expects to appoint a preferred bidder in
due course. In addition, the lease options for the projects have
been executed and the balance of plant tender is near to
completion. In respect of Rye Common, the relevant lease options
have been entered into between Harmony RC Limited (the Rye Common
special purpose vehicle ("SPV")) as the Lessee and a wholly owned
subsidiary of HEL as the Lessor at market rates. HEL recently
agreed to acquire the freehold land associated with this project,
in order to remove pre-existing encumbrances, thereby ensuring that
the SPV's lease options could be effected and thus enabling the
project.
Both phases of the Rye Common project are held within the SPV
and share a single 99MW grid connection. Whilst Rye Common Phase I
has full planning consents in place, Phase II is awaiting planning
consent which is expected to be received in early 2023 in line with
the overall project timetable. Given the single project SPV and
single grid connection, acquiring the project now will mean that
the Company can make the necessary grid milestone payments to
continue to secure the agreed energisation date. In the unexpected
event that Phase II planning consent is not granted, a claw-back
mechanism has been agreed in respect of part of the consideration,
pursuant to the relevant share purchase agreement.
Current Portfolio
The three project acquisitions increase the total capacity of
projects in the Company's portfolio to c.500MW / 1GWh, with
energisation dates between the end of 2022 and 2024.
Project MW / MWh Location Target Commercial Status
Operations Date (12.12.2022)
Pillswood(1) 98 / 196 Yorkshire Operational(1) Operational
----------- ------------- ----------------- ------------------
Broadditch 11 / 22 Kent Q4 2022 Under Construction
----------- ------------- ----------------- ------------------
Farnham 20 / 40 Surrey Q1 2023 Under Construction
----------- ------------- ----------------- ------------------
Rusholme 35 / 70 Yorkshire Q3 2023 Under Construction
----------- ------------- ----------------- ------------------
Bumpers 99 / 198 Bucks. Q3 2023 Under Construction
----------- ------------- ----------------- ------------------
Little Raith 49.5 / 99 Fife Q4 2023 Under Construction
----------- ------------- ----------------- ------------------
Wormald Green 33 / 66 Yorkshire Q1 2024 Shovel Ready
----------- ------------- ----------------- ------------------
Hawthorn Pit 49.9 / 99.8 County Durham Q2 2024 Shovel Ready
----------- ------------- ----------------- ------------------
Rye Common 99 / 198 Surrey Q3 2024 Shovel Ready (2)
----------- ------------- ----------------- ------------------
Total 494.4 /
988.8
------------- ----------- ----------------------------------------------------
(1) As announced on 21 November 2022, Pillswood was successfully
energised in November 2022. At the time of energisation it was the
largest BESS project in Europe (by MWh). (2) Phase II subject to
planning as explained above.
Norman Crighton, Chairman of the Company, said:
"On the back of energising Pillswood in November, and receiving
delivery of the first Tesla Megapack 2 XL batteries in Europe at
our Broadditch project, it is encouraging to continue the growth of
Harmony Energy Income Trust plc with the acquisition of three new
projects with near-term energisation dates. We thank our investors
who supported the C Share raise against a difficult economic
backdrop in October, which has facilitated these acquisitions. This
puts the Company on track to convert the C Shares into Ordinary
Shares early in 2023 as envisaged. HEIT's defined pipeline remains
a key differentiator and we look forward to continuing to grow the
portfolio over the coming months and years."
Paul Mason, Managing Director of Harmony Energy Advisors
Limited. commented :
"We are seeing deployment of vital battery storage projects lag
behind renewable energy deployment, and a lot of competition for
projects on the open market increasing prices, so it is more
important than ever that we take advantage of HEIT's exclusive
access to a pipeline of near-term grid connections and this
acquisition allows us to do just that. We are grateful for the
continued support of our lenders which will allow us to deliver
this vital energy infrastructure as quickly as possible."
Application for admission
Application has been made for admission of 7,000,000 C Shares to
trading on the Specialist Fund Segment of the London Stock Exchange
plc's main market (" Admission "). It is expected that Admission
will occur and dealings in the C Shares will commence at 8.00 a.m.
(London time) on 20 December 2022.
Total Voting Rights
Following admission, the Company will have 210,000,000 Ordinary
Shares of 1p and 21,771,364 C Shares of 10p in issue carrying one
vote each . The Company holds no shares in treasury and the total
voting rights in the Company will be 231,771,364.
The above figure of 231,771,364 may be used by Shareholders as
the denominator for the calculations by which they will determine
if they are required to notify their interest in, or a change to,
their interest in the Company under the FCA's Disclosure Guidance
and Transparency Rules.
Terms not defined in this announcement have the same meaning as
defined in the announcement on 28 September 2022.
For further information, please contact:
Harmony Energy Advisors Limited
Paul Mason
Max Slade
Peter Kavanagh
James Ritchie
info@harmonyenergy.co.uk
Berenberg
Gillian Martin
Ben Wright
Dan Gee-Summons +44 (0)20 3207 7800
Camarco
Eddie Livingstone-Learmonth
Georgia Edmonds +44 (0)20 3757 4980
JTC (UK) Limited
Uloma Adighibe
Harmony.CoSec@jtcgroup.com +44 (0)20 3832 3877
LEI: 254900O3XI3CJNTKR453
About Harmony Energy Advisors Limited (the "Investment
Adviser")
The Investment Adviser is a wholly owned subsidiary of Harmony
Energy Limited.
The management team of the Investment Adviser have been
exclusively focussed on the energy storage sector (across multiple
projects) in Great Britain for over six years, both from the point
of view of asset owner/developer and in a third-party advisory
capacity. The Investment Adviser is an appointed representative of
Laven Advisors LLP, which is authorised and regulated by the
Financial Conduct Authority.
Important Information
This announcement contains inside information for the purposes
of Article 7 of MAR. Upon publication of this announcement, the
inside information is now considered to be in the public domain for
the purposes of MAR. The person responsible for arranging the
release of this announcement on behalf of the Company is Harmony
Energy Advisors Limited .
This announcement does not constitute an offer to sell or the
solicitation of an offer to acquire or subscribe for shares in the
Company in any jurisdiction. This distribution of this announcement
outside the UK may be restricted by law. No action has been taken
by the Company that would permit possession of this announcement in
any jurisdiction outside the UK where action for that purpose is
required. Persons outside the UK who come into possession of this
announcement should inform themselves about the distribution of
this announcement in their particular jurisdiction.
This announcement contains (or may contain) certain
forward-looking statements with respect to certain of the Company's
plans and/or the plans of one or more of its investee companies and
their respective current goals and expectations relating to their
respective future financial condition and performance and which
involve a number of risks and uncertainties. The Company's target
returns are a target only and there is no guarantee that these will
be achieved. This Company cautions readers that no forward-looking
statement is a guarantee of future performance and that actual
results could differ materially from those contained in the
forward-looking statements.
It should also be noted that any future NAV per Share announced
by the Company in due course will, in addition to the matters
described in this announcement, also be affected by valuation
movements in the Company's portfolio and other factors including,
without limitation, purchase prices of battery energy storage
systems and components, project development and construction costs,
income and pricing from contracts with National Grid ESO and other
counterparties, the potential for trading profitability in the
wholesale electricity markets and/or Balancing Mechanism,
performance of the Company's investments, and the availability of
projects which meet the
Company's minimum return parameters in accordance with the Company's investment policy .
This information is provided by RNS, the news service of the
London Stock Exchange. RNS is approved by the Financial Conduct
Authority to act as a Primary Information Provider in the United
Kingdom. Terms and conditions relating to the use and distribution
of this information may apply. For further information, please
contact rns@lseg.com or visit www.rns.com.
RNS may use your IP address to confirm compliance with the terms
and conditions, to analyse how you engage with the information
contained in this communication, and to share such analysis on an
anonymised basis with others as part of our commercial services.
For further information about how RNS and the London Stock Exchange
use the personal data you provide us, please see our Privacy
Policy.
END
ACQMZMMZRDNGZZM
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
December 15, 2022 02:00 ET (07:00 GMT)
Harmony Energy Income (LSE:HEIT)
Historical Stock Chart
From Apr 2024 to May 2024
Harmony Energy Income (LSE:HEIT)
Historical Stock Chart
From May 2023 to May 2024