New funding boost for Green Highland Renewables
£3.3m deal with SEP and Scottish Enterprise will allow company development
Scottish Enterprise's Scottish Investment Bank, alongside Scottish Equity Partnership, has funded a £3.3m investment deal with Perth-based Green Highland Renewables, a leading Scottish developer of small to medium-scale hydro generation schemes.
The deal, led by the Scottish Equity Partnership’s Environmental Energies Fund, will enable the company to develop its growing pipeline of hydro generation sites, as well as servicing increasing demand from clients for consulting, project management and operation and maintenance services.
Green Highland Renewables was founded in 2007 and specialises in developing small scale, ‘run of river’ hydro projects from about 100kW to 2MW. The company provides advice and solutions to landowners and communities through the whole process of design, finance, procurement and operation.
Ian Cartwright, managing director of Green Highland Renewables, said: “We are delighted to have closed this substantial investment round. Hydro electric site development is a complex process, from prospecting to commissioning. It is therefore important that the company has access to substantial development capital, to enable it to take advantage of the growing number of opportunities.”
“This injection of capital means, in addition to servicing demand from our existing clients, we can actively seek out new clients who potentially require help with site development. Such schemes, once completed, can provide landowners with long-term, relatively risk-free income.”
The hydro power market offers significant unexploited potential. According to Scottish Renewables, Scotland currently has 1.4GW of hydro power, with growth potential, in particular for the development of small and medium sized schemes.
Tony Robison, of SEP said: “We consider Green Highland Renewables to be ideally placed to exploit the significant growth opportunity in the small to medium-scale hydro market. Ian and the rest of the team have an excellent track record, a growing pipeline of site opportunities and have built a trusted brand in the hydro market. Our investment will enable the company to expand its operations and cement its position as the leading Scottish-based developer of run of river hydro generation schemes.”
Kerry Sharp, acting head of the Scottish Investment Bank, said: "The Scottish Investment Bank is very pleased to be supporting GHR alongside Scottish Equity Partners. Scotland has an ambition to source 100% of its electricity demand from renewable sources by 2020, and it's companies like this, which are actively seeking more ways to increase our renewable energy output, that will help us achieve that ambition."
Further information from:
Ian Cartwright
Green Highland Renewables
Tel: 01738 493110
E: ian.cartwright@greenhighland.co.uk
Tony Robison
Scottish Equity Partners
Tel: 0141 273 4000
E: tony.robison@sep.co.uk
About the Environmental Energies Fund:
The Environmental Energies Fund (EEF) is a £95 million secondaries fund formed by SEP to acquire and invest in a portfolio of innovative UK based green energy businesses originally backed by SSE plc. The fund is managed by leading UK growth equity and venture capital firm SEP and will operate as a partnership between FTSE-100 listed SSE plc, one of the UK’s largest energy companies, and the fund’s blue-chip financial backers Lexington Partners, Hermes GPE, F&C Private Equity and Partners Group. For more info visit http://www.sep.co.uk
The Scottish Investment Bank is a division of Scottish Enterprise which operates Scotland-wide, in partnership with Highlands and Islands Enterprise. It operates a suite of funds including; The Scottish Seed Fund, the Scottish Co-investment Fund, the Scottish Venture Fund and the Scottish Loan Fund to support Scotland’s SME funding market to ensure businesses with growth and export potential have adequate access to growth capital. For more info visit www.scottish-enterprise.com/sib