Bloomberg News
By Louise Downing on May 23, 2012
Advanced Plasma Power Ltd., a U.K. waste-to-energy technology maker, plans to hire a financial adviser to help raise money for 400 million pounds ($629 million) of planned projects to turn trash into power.
The company has been speaking to investment banks and specialist firms and has selected the “frontrunners,” Rolf Stein, chief executive officer of London-based Advanced Plasma, said by phone.
“We already have some funding commitments in place and we are about to go very actively into the market,” Stein said. “We will appoint the adviser as soon as we have certainty on the outcome of the U.K. Renewable Obligation banding review.”
The U.K. is examining the level of support it gives to different renewable energy technologies under a banding review. Confirmation of the new support levels, which will come into effect next April, are expected within weeks.
The U.K.’s goal is to get at least 15 percent of its energy from renewable sources by 2020, a sevenfold jump from 2008. Bioenergy facilities such as Advanced Plasma’s have the potential to provide as much as 30 percent of this target, according to the Department of Energy and Climate Change.
Advanced Plasma is planning to build as many as 10 projects across Britain that use waste from homes and businesses to generate electricity and heat. They are expected to have a total capacity of 160 megawatts.
The adviser will likely work with the company on its entire project portfolio, the CEO said. They may need as much as 400 million pounds and the financial close of the first facility is expected by the end of the year or early 2013.
The waste-to-energy developer has seen a “very sharp” increase in interest and demand for its technology from regions including North America, Asia and Africa, it said. It’s proceeding with a project in Africa that it’s looking to develop with another U.K. business specializing in the area, Stein said, declining to disclose further details.
To contact the reporter responsible for this story: Louise Downing in London at Ldowning4@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Reed Landberg in London at landberg@bloomberg.net