As of 22 April 2017, the Snetterton Renewable Energy Plant has been handed over to the owners after a construction period of 29 months, which is one month ahead of schedule and within the agreed investment budget of GBP 175m. The biomass plant has a capacity of 44MW and will generate enough green electricity to supply 82,000 homes and save over 300,000 tonnes of CO2 every year.
In 2013, Burmeister & Wain Scandinavian Contractor A/S (BWSC) and Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners (CIP), together with PensionDanmark, formed a joint venture, BWSC PLC Ltd. (BPCL), to build, own and operate biomass power plants. The company closed its first contract for the Brigg project in 2013, and the project entered commercial operation in January 2016. The second project is the Snetterton project where the investment decision was taken in November 2014.
Snetterton, which is located in Norfolk in East Anglia, England, is based on Danish biomass energy technology supplied by BWSC under a turnkey EPC contract. Furthermore, BWSC is responsible for operation and maintenance of the plant under a 15-year O&M agreement, which commenced on the date of completion of the plant. The local staff consists of around 30 employees.
Snetterton is owned by Copenhagen Infrastructure I K/S, which has PensionDanmark as the founding and sole investor, together with BWSC.
“We are very pleased with the good cooperation with CIP and BWSC. The completion of our second project together, is a strong evidence of the success of our joint venture model. It provides PensionDanmark with an attractive return, and at the same time, we are helping to increase Danish energy technology exports and are supporting the transition to a climate-friendly energy production. We look forward to more projects together,” says Torben Möger Pedersen, CEO, PensionDanmark.
“The completion of the Snetterton power plant is an important milestone in achieving BWSC’s strategic objective of growth by financing of and investing in power plants. The collaboration with CIP and PensionDanmark has strengthened BWSC’s position as market leader within building, operating and owning decentralised biomass power plants, and we look forward to continuing this fruitful partnership”, says Anders Heine Jensen, CEO in BWSC.
“The completion of Snetterton is a continuation of the successful cooperation between PensionDanmark, BWSC and CIP, which started with the Brigg power plant. The completion ahead of schedule also demonstrates the value of forming partnerships between financial investors and strong industrial companies”, says Christina G. Sørensen, Senior Partner in CIP.
For further information, please contact:
Ulrikke Ekelund, PensionDanmark +45 2019 9238 or email: uek@pension.dk, web: www.pension.dk
Mette Mulipola, BWSC +45 48102302 or email: mknm@bwsc.dk, web: www.bwsc.com
Kristina Negendahl Jessen, CIP +45 70705151 or email: cip@cip.dk, web: www.cip.dk
Peter Sills, BWSC East Anglia Ltd. +44 7976 437 467 press@snettertonbiomass.com web: www.snettertonbiomass.com
Notes to Editors
Facts about the project:
Snetterton Renewable Energy Plant (Snetterton), which is located in Norfolk in East Anglia, England, is based on Danish biomass energy technology supplied by BWSC under a turnkey EPC contract. Furthermore, BWSC is responsible for operation and maintenance of the plant under a 15-year O&M agreement. Snetterton is a primarily straw fueled plant and has a capacity of 44MW, corresponding to the total consumption of 82,000 households, and will reduce annual CO2 emissions by an estimated 300,000 tonnes. The plant consumes in the region of 250,000 tonnes of straw per year which is sourced from farmers throughout the local region. The boiler of the plant was supplied by the former Danish high-tech company BWE which was acquired by BWSC in February 2017 through an asset deal.
Facts about the parties:
About PensionDanmark
PensionDanmark is a labor market pension fund and among the 50 largest pension funds in Europe. PensionDanmark manages pension and insurance schemes, health care and educational funds on behalf of 695,000 members employed at 26,000 businesses within the Danish private and public sector. PensionDanmark is a not-for-profit and owned by our members. As a result, all profits go to our members. Premium income totaled EUR 1.7bn in 2016. By the end of 2016 PensionDanmark had EUR 29,6bn under management. PensionDanmark currently has EUR 2.4bn invested in infrastructure and expects to invest a further EUR 1.1bn in infrastructure over the coming years.
About Burmeister & Wain Scandinavian Contractor A/S (BWSC)
Burmeister & Wain Scandinavian Contractor A/S (BWSC) is a Danish engineering and contracting company which develops, builds, operates and owns high-performance biomass, biogas and diesel power plants. The majority of the projects are supplied as turnkey plants, and BWSC has delivered more than 180 power plants to 53 countries worldwide with a total capacity of more than 3,500 MW. Currently, BWSC has ongoing activities in England, Northern Ireland, Lebanon, Mauritius, Faroe Islands, Sri Lanka and Kenya. In 2016, BWSC generated revenue of DKK 2.9bn, and the order backlog amounted to DKK 6.7bn at end-2016, which is an all-time high. In February 2017, BWSC acquired the assets of the Danish boiler manufacturer Burmeister & Wain Energy (BWE) and thus secured its position as a leading energy company on the global market for small and medium-sized biomass power plants. BWSC originates from the stationary engine division of Burmeister & Wain (B&W), which has built and installed diesel engines for power plants since 1904. BWSC was established as a separate specialist company in 1980 and was acquired by Mitsui Engineering and Shipbuilding Co. Ltd. in 1990. In February 2017, BWSC acquired key assets from Burmeister & Wain Energy.
About Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners
Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners K/S (CIP) is a fund management company founded in 2012 by senior executives from the energy industry and PensionDanmark. CIP is owned and managed by the five partners, Jakob Baruël Poulsen, Rune Bro Róin, Torsten Lodberg Smed, Christian T. Skakkebæk and Christina Grumstrup Sørensen. All five partners have extensive experience within infrastructure investments and mergers & acquisitions. CIP currently manages the funds Copenhagen Infrastructure I K/S, CI Artemis K/S, Copenhagen Infrastructure II K/S, and Copenhagen Infrastructure III K/S. Copenhagen Infrastructure I K/S and CI Artemis K/S both have PensionDanmark as sole investor, while Copenhagen Infrastructure II and III K/S have multiple Danish and international institutional investors.
