The Mountgrange Real Estate Opportunity Fund (MoREOF), a £300 million (approx. 342 mln.) fund targeting UK property and related assets, managed by Mountgrange Investment Management (MIM), has invested £16.75 million to facilitate the next phase of the development of a site near Peterborough, Cambridgeshire, for the construction of a large-scale waste to biomass power generation plant.
This strategic initiative illustrates MIM's growing interest in the renewables sector where property-related opportunities are becoming increasingly attractive to investors.
The proposed plant is expected to generate 79 megawatts of electricity per year, enough to power nearly 80,000 homes. The facility will take mixed waste and biomass and apply gasification and modern plasma vitrification techniques to recycle and recover every single element of the waste. As such the energy park will be one of the most sustainable and technologically-advanced plants of its kind in the UK, avoiding the need for any waste to go to landfill.
Peterborough Renewable Energy Ltd ("PREL"), a subsidiary of Green Energy Parks (GEP), has led this project from inception, identifying the opportunity, designing the scheme and taking it through the planning consent process. MoREOF's investment has secured the development site (with the benefit of the planning consent) which it has conditionally agreed to lease back to PREL. This enables PREL to now focus on taking the project to the next stage of development.
Nick Berry, a Partner at MIM, commented: "Developments in the renewables sector, driven by Government policy, present opportunities for strategic investment where new projects are underpinned by land or propertyrelated assets. MoREOF's involvement in this project clearly represents our philosophy of identifying opportunities with the capacity for potentially attractive returns, which are not necessarily driven by traditional property investment criteria. We are pleased to have earmarked a significant investment for the Peterborough facility and are very encouraged by its potential.
"We believe there will be additional opportunities to apply our investment management skills in the UK renewables sector which is growing to meet targets set by Government for the provision of cleaner energy in a market dominated by carbon-based electricity generation. The renewable energy generation project highlights MoREOF's commitment to seeking different and attractive opportunities in the UK property market."
Chris Williams, Managing Director of PREL, added: "MoREOF's investment is essential to the delivery of Energy Park Peterborough, which has the potential to fundamentally change the way that we deal with waste in the UK.
"With this backing PREL will be able to deliver a project that delivers considerable benefits for both the community and the environment.
"Once constructed, we hope that Energy Park Peterborough will be the first in what will become a nationwide network of biomass renewable energy facilities for Green Energy Parks."
Nabarro, Grant Thornton and Torrin Asset Management advised MoREOF on this project.
Source: The HeadLand Consultancy
