The SDCL managed investment vehicle, SEEIT, has released its ESG Report of the period ended 31 March 2021.
Rolls-Royce and SDCL join forces to accelerate the take-up of sustainable power with launch of ‘Energy-as-a-Service’
• Improves access to more sustainable power solutions for communities and companies through ‘subscription’ energy service
• Helps accelerate the take-up of renewable energy by removing the need for customers to find up-front finance or operate their power supply
• Provides electricity and heat for remote communities, industrial companies and large energy consumers
• Solutions bring together established and new technologies from combined heat and power, wind and solar, to battery storage and fuel cells
Rolls-Royce has agreed to a cooperation with the global investment firm Sustainable Development Capital LLP (SDCL) to jointly offer ‘Energy-as-a-Service’ solutions that can help accelerate the take-up of more sustainable power. The agreement, signed at the World Climate Conference (COP26) in Glasgow on 11 November, allows Rolls-Royce to provide customers with electricity and/or heat, generated by a sustainable and efficient energy system, as a subscription service, removing the need for customers to secure up-front infrastructure finance or operate the system themselves.
One of the themes of COP26 has been how to improve access to finance for solutions to assist in the energy transition and combat climate change. The provision of ‘Energy-as-a-Service’ where a customer pays for heat and power through a subscription model, represents a very attractive way to improve access to sustainable power. Rolls-Royce will work with SDCL and other partners to design, finance, build, commission and operate new projects. SDCL has more than a decade of experience of developing and financing clean and decentralised energy infrastructure projects in the UK, continental Europe, North America and Asia. Rolls-Royce, through its Power Systems business unit, has a portfolio of microgrid systems that bring together renewable energy sources such as solar and windpower with mtu-branded battery storage and gensets (an engine and electrical generator) to ensure reliable power generation. It is currently developing fuel cell systems and making its existing mtu engines compatible with sustainable fuels, paving the way for net zero microgrid solutions within the next two years.
Energy service can help transform the energy supply of communities and companies
Examples of ‘Energy-as-a-Service’ projects can range from providing sustainable and reliable power for communities in remote areas that are not connected to a public power grid; to industrial parks that want to be supplied with green power as well as emergency back-up and mines that want to replace old, inefficient, equipment to meet new regulatory requirements and make use of as much renewable energy as possible.
“Energy-as-a-Service is particularly interesting for companies that need to adapt their energy supply to new circumstances – be it an expansion for which more power is needed or an adaptation to new regulatory requirements, such as emissions guidelines,” explained Andreas Görtz, Vice President Power Generation at Rolls-Royce Power Systems. “Because this often involves investing in equipment, such as a microgrid, that requires expertise to operate, it’s a challenge for customers to do this on their own. By offering Energy-as-a-Service, we can help them overcome that challenge.”
Portfolio for energy supply ranges from CHP to fuel cells to microgrids
The portfolio of energy systems that can be made available through ‘Energy-as-a-Service’ to provide electricity and/or heat, ranges from smaller plants using combined heat and power (CHP) units to battery containers and complex microgrid solutions. The existing mtu product range will be expanded in the coming years to include new technologies such as hydrogen-powered engines, fuel cell systems and combustion engines that can be operated with sustainable fuels such as ediesel and hydrotreated vegetable oils (HVO).
Energy-as-a-Service supports industrial companies on the way to Net Zero
Perry Kuiper, President Sustainable Power Solutions at Rolls-Royce Power Systems, explained:
“Industrial companies and other businesses that rely on environmentally and climate-friendly energy can avoid ever-increasing energy and grid connection costs as a benefit from our new Energy-as-a-Service offering. We use our own new mtu technologies, our system expertise and our global network of partners and service locations to offer our customers an efficient and reliable energy supply on their way to climate neutrality. With SDCL, we have a strong financial partner on board that has successfully developed and financed clean energy, energy efficiency and decentralised energy infrastructure projects since 2007.”
Energy subscription: efficient and sustainable energy supply without high investments
Jonathan Maxwell, CEO and Founder of Sustainable Development Capital LLP, added: “SDCL was established to facilitate investment in environmental infrastructure markets. The company has always focused on investing in projects that are good for the environment, good for people and commercially sustainable. We believe that with our new partner Rolls-Royce, we will be able to pursue these objectives even faster. Companies that want to avoid high investment costs for their own energy plant and focus on their core business, but still want an energy supply that is precisely designed to meet their needs, will be well served by our new offering.”
Sustainable Development Capital, SDCL, is delighted to announce at Built Environment Day for COP 26 in Glasgow that it has now raised over US$2 billion for investment in energy efficiency.
SDCL manages the SDCL Energy Efficiency income Trust plc (SEIT), which is listed on the main market of the London Stock Exchange, which has grown to over £1bn equity market capitalisation. Through a combination of growth of its private equity infrastructure platform and the IPO of the SDCL EDGE Acquisition Corporation (SEDA) on the New York Stock Exchange in October, SDCL has now raised over US$2 billion for investment in energy efficient projects and companies.
SDCL’s investments involve a large portfolio of on-site generation projects such as roof-top solar, storage, combined heat and power, renewable heat, green gas and industrial energy recycling for a wide cross section of the built environment, from datacentres to schools and hospitals, from small commercial buildings to large district energy networks and major industrial facilities in high emission sectors such as steel and chemicals. These investments reduce the inefficiency of supply, where some two thirds of energy can traditionally be lost in the generation, transmission and distribution process. Other investments involve projects that reduce demand for energy at the point of use, where some 70% of the world’s energy is used in buildings, industry and transport. Solutions include improvements in lighting, heating, ventilation, air conditioning, building energy management systems and controls.
SDCL’s investment portfolio is broadly evenly split between Europe and North America and also includes projects in Asia. SDCL can invest in high quality projects throughout their project development lifecycle, anywhere from concept to long term operations. It can also invest selectively in private companies in what it describes as the EDGE markets, i.e. efficient and decentralised generation of energy, at various stages of growth up to IPO.
Jonathan Maxwell, CEO of SDCL said:
“SDCL has established a strong track record of investment in energy efficiency and has achieved substantial scale – indeed SDCL may now be the largest specialist investor of its kind in energy efficiency and continues to grow.
We are delighted to announce the achievement of this milestone in the growth of our investment in energy efficiency at COP26 because it plays such a crucial role in decarbonisation targets aimed at limiting global temperature rise to 1.5 degrees. The International Energy Agency reports that it may be 40% of the answer and yet has attracted less attention from capital markets to date. We think this is now changing rapidly for all the right reasons.
Our investments in energy efficiency demonstrate that energy efficiency is not only one of the largest and most cost-effective sources of greenhouse gas emissions but that it improves resilience and energy security and also reduces costs, improving productivity. It a major source of green growth”.
