Smart Energy Finances: Grids guide Dutch loans and investment strategies
Grabbing our attention this week, Dutch network operators release an investment scenario report to coordinate investment plans, Amprion increases a loan to align their grid investments with financial strategies, a new UK cleantech coalition is announced and the IEA convenes it’s new Finance Industry Advisory Board.
An investment scenario for grid strategies
The Dutch regional network operators have published an investment scenario report, under the flag of Netbeheer Nederland – an association of national and regional electricity and gas network operators.
The report, Scenarios investment plans, was drafted as a basis for elaboration on the investment plans of regional grid managers.
The investment scenarios in the new report have been adapted to climate ambitions to achieve a 55% CO2 reduction by 2030, in line with that laid down in the EU’s Fit for 55 Climate Act.
This means that the task has been adjusted significantly upwards compared to scenarios in the investment plan for 2022.
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The report lays out three scenarios specifically to form a basis for Dutch grid investments:
- Climate Ambition (KA): A central scenario based on all existing and proposed energy and climate policy (Klimaat en Energieverkenning 2022).
- National Drivers (ND): A “flanking” scenario with more focus on electrification of demand and sustainable generation on land.
- International Ambition (IA): Another flanking scenario with more focus on sustainable gases, including hydrogen.
Through the scenarios, the Dutch network operators map out what they will need to consider for well-founded investment plans, in line with the country and continent’s energy ambition.
Each accounts for trends important for energy networks as well as the changing landscape of the energy transition – in both the amounts of energy used and which energy carriers will be important.
Amprion increases syndicated loan agreement by €500 million
As Netbeheer Nederland released its investment report, the Dutch TSO Amprion announced an increase loan for an existing syndicated agreement.
The credit line has been increased by €500 million ($530 million) to a total of €2 billion ($2.1 billion). All eight original syndicate banks participate proportionally in the expansion.
The original agreement was signed in April 2021, allowing the Dortmund-based utility to develop and align its financing strategies with investments in transmission.
By stepping up the syndicated loan agreement, Amprion is now hoping to increase its flexibility for short-term financing in response to the increased investments necessary to accelerate grid expansion across the country, which in 2022 experienced significant recurring grid bottlenecks.
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Participating banks include Bayerische Landesbank, Commerzbank, DZ Bank, ING, Landesbank Baden-Württemberg, Landesbank Hessen-Thüringen, SEB and UniCredit.
Peter Rüth, chief financial officer of Amprion stated: “The syndicated loan agreement with our eight banking partners is the basis for our bridge-to-bond financing strategy.
“By increasing the financing volume, we are creating even greater flexibility in short-term financing and will be able to take even better advantage of market opportunities in the future.”
The loan agreement has a term of four years with an option of extending by a total of two further years.
UK cleantech investors pool £6 billion in new coalition
Meanwhile, in the UK, a new strategic coalition of cleantech investors has been formed.
The coalition – Cleantech for UK – was formed with combined funds of over £6 billion ($7.2 billion) to accelerate its namesake, UK clean technologies.
The coalition sees Kiko Ventures join other cleantech accelerators and investors in the UK, supported by Breakthrough Energy – an umbrella energy company founded by Bill Gates – and organised by Cleantech Group, an analyst team covering global investment trends in the energy sector.
Cleantech venture capital investment for the UK in 2022 amounted to £3.2 billion ($3.9 billion), equalling the record-breaking amounts of 2021.
Founding members of the coalition include Imperial College London’s cleantech accelerator Undaunted, Clean Growth Fund (cleantech venture capital investor), Kiko Ventures (cleantech venture capital investor), Breakthrough Energy Ventures (cleantech venture capital investor), Just Climate (climate-led investor) and Legal & General Capital (alternative asset platform).
IEA‘s first meeting of new Finance Industry Advisory Board
And in global developments, the IEA held the first meeting of its new Finance Industry Advisory Board, bringing together 40 representatives of leading actors in the world of energy finance, including banks, asset managers and international financial institutions.
The IEA convened the new board to enable a more structured dialogue with the energy finance community on a range of issues affecting energy investment, in particular as they relate to clean energy transitions.
At the meeting at the IEA headquarters in Paris, participants exchanged views on some of the main investment-related outputs planned by the IEA for 2023.
These include the annual World Energy Investment report that tracks flows of capital into the energy sector; an upcoming joint report with the International Finance Corporation on scaling up private sector finance into clean energy projects in emerging and developing economies; the Cost of Capital Observatory that is run by the IEA and several partners; new analysis on clean energy finance in Africa that is being developed in cooperation with the African Development Bank; and planned analysis for the COP28 Climate Change Conference on the oil and gas industry in transitions to net zero emissions.
The IEA has three main aims for the new initiative:
- To provide a structured exchange of views on the main IEA analytical outputs relating to energy investment and finance.
- To provide an institutional channel for dialogue between the energy finance community and energy policymakers.
- To allow for regular exchanges on the use of IEA scenarios.
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Cheers,
Yusuf Latief,
Content Producer, Smart Energy International
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