BWSC and Copenhagen Infrastructure I to develop biomass plant in the UK
Burmeister & Wain Scandinavian Contractor A/S (BWSC) and the fund Copenhagen Infrastructure I, with PensionDanmark as investor, have announced that they will develop the Snetterton biomas power plant in the UK.
In 2013 BWSC and Copenhagen Infrastructure I established a joint venture with the aim to create, own and run power plants abroad. The company closed its first contract on a power plant in England in 2013. Today the company has signed yet another contract on the biomass plant, Snetterton in East Anglia, Eastern England.
Anders Heine Jensen, CEO of BWSC stated:
"When we first created the company, I expected that by combining our leading technology in the field of power plants with strong financial powers we would create a company with strong competitive abilities. What we see today is exactly that."
BWSC is in charge of constructing, operating and maintaining the power plant throughout a 15-year period. The new power plant is scheduled to be up and running by spring 2017. The power plant will have a capacity of 44.2 MW equivalent to the average energy usage of 82,000 households, and the company has contracted for supply of straw for the next 12 years.
The investment in Snetterton is of DKK 1.6 billion (US$268 million). PensionDanmark invests DKK 1.4 billion (US$234.5 million), which is financed through Copenhagen Infrastructure I, managed by . BWSC invests DKK 0.2 billion in the power plant.
Torben Möger Pedersen, CEO of PensionDanmark, said:
"There are great perspectives in this kind of cooperation. We have high demands to the industrial partners we work with on joint ventures, and BWSC fully live up to our expectations. We have to secure our members a good and steady return, and this cooperation delivers that."
This is the second biomass power plant created by BWSC PCL in England. Last year the company invested DKK 1.4 billion (US$234.5 million) in the Brigg project further north in England, in Lincolnshire.
Christian Skakkebæk, Senior Partner in Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners, said:
"There are great advantages in a more direct cooperation between financial and industrial partners in the energy sector. It is not always easily established, but this cooperation is a good example of how it can be done, and benefits all parties involved."
