CashNews.co
Leading European renewable energy firm Greenvolt Group has announced that it has increased its total available finance to €400 million (£335,180,000).
The firm, which owns biomass plants in Tilbury and Kent, England, as well as a 9.3GW international wind, solar and battery pipeline in Europe, has successfully upsized its syndicated loan from €350 million in order to speed up the rollout of its development pipeline. Two new banking partners, who the firm declined to name, have joined the finance syndicate, bringing the total number of financial institutions in the syndicate to eight.
The new finance will allow the group to roll out more renewable energy projects. In the UK, Greenvolt Group owns and operates Tilbury Green Power, a biomass power plant which operates using waste wood and generates 335GWh of energy each year. In June of this year, Greenvolt Group announced that it had acquired 100% of Kent Renewable Energy, which operates a biomass plant in Sandwich, Kent. The Kent plant has an operational production capacity of 28.1MW and generated around 210.8GWh of energy in 2023.
“This increase in financing reflects the trust that financial institutions have in our strategy in the renewables sector. It also highlights the benefits of having KKR as a key shareholder, extending our reach within the financial community”, said João Manso Neto, CEO of Greenvolt Group.
UK biomass and other alternative renewables
The UK biomass sector is relatively underdeveloped, making up just 5% of the UK’s energy mix in 2023.
One of the most significant biomass projects currently in operation in the UK comes courtesy of E.ON, who owns and operates the Blackburn Meadows renewable energy plant. This plant uses biomass to power an over 8km heat network in the Sheffield area. The company has announced ambitious plans to more than double the size of the heat network, expanding it by 10km and providing low-carbon heating to more homes in the area as part of a multi-million-pound investment.
Smaller-scale, domestic biomass pellet boilers remain an attractive option for decarbonising home heating, something that has caught the attention of a UK finance institution. Biomass pellet boilers are one of the many technologies eligible for cashback rewards under Halifax’s Green Living Reward scheme. The scheme offers cashback to Halifax mortgage customers installing energy efficiency upgrades to their homes. Those who choose to add a biomass pellet boiler to their home can receive £500 cashback under the scheme.