/ Kineticor Resource has secured C$1.5bn ($1.2bn) financing for the Cascade Power Project, a 900MW combined-cycle natural gas-fired generating facility, with construction set to start immediately.

The company closed the financing on the project, located near Edson in Alberta, with joint development sponsors Macquarie Capital and pension fund OPTrust, and project sponsors OPTrust, Axium Infrastructure, and DIF Capital Partners.

For this project, Macquarie served as the exclusive financial advisor and debt arranger to the partnership.

Kineticor CEO Andrew Plaunt said: “Cascade was initially conceived by a group of individuals looking to make a difference as Alberta begins to transition away from coal-fired power generation in the province.

“Today represents the culmination of several years of close collaboration with our development partners at OPTrust and Macquarie, along with consultants, engineers, vendors, gas suppliers, and local stakeholders.

“With the financial support from Axium and DIF, along with our project financing partners, achieving this significant milestone of a successful financing will allow us to make Cascade a reality.”

Cascade will be constructed under an engineering, procurement, and construction services contract by BPC, a joint venture between affiliates of PCL Construction and Overland Contracting Canada, a Black & Veatch Company.

Kineticor will act as the construction and asset manager for this project.

During the peak construction phase, the project is expected to create nearly 600 jobs as well as 25 long-term jobs during operation. /

/ EDF Energy is ready to restart electricity generation at the Hunterston B nuclear power station in Ayrshire, Scotland.

One of the plant’s reactors will start generating in the near future. The announcement came after a two-year inspection and investment programme to ensure the nuclear plant can withstand a range of earthquake scenarios.

Hunterston B nuclear power station has generated electricity since 1976. The company extended the generating life span of the station in 2012, extending it to March 2023, with the possibility of moving this by two years in either direction.

EDF Generation business managing director Matt Sykes said: “Hunterston B has quietly delivered a major contribution to the UK for more than 40 years. It has far exceeded its original remit and, over its lifetime, gone on to safely produce enough low-carbon energy to power the whole of Scotland for eight years.

“We didn’t know back in the 1960s when these plants were designed, just how important low carbon energy would become.

“We owe all those that designed, built, commissioned, and still operate the station a huge debt of gratitude. Our focus is on continuing to safely deliver the last period of power generation and then transition the station into decommissioning.”

EDF further added that it is planning to begin the defuelling phase for the Hunterston B no later than 7 January 2022. This will be subject to a further inspection next year, followed by regulatory approval for a final six months of operation. /

/ Wind projects developer WPD has signed contracts with a group of contractors for its 350MW Guanyin offshore wind farm in Taiwan.

The construction site lies off the coast of Taoyuan. Construction work will begin there once the Taiwanese Government issues any remaining permits. Commissioning of the Guanyin wind farm will begin in 2022.

WPD has executed the contract agreements with MHI Vestas Offshore Wind, Formosa Heavy Industry, CTCI Machinery, Seaway Heavilift, Fred Olsen Windcarrier, CSBC Deme Wind Engineering, GE Taiwan, and Deutsche Windtechnik.

WPD COO Achim Berge Olsen said: “We have fulfilled our promise to deliver the project. It is ready for construction and includes a very strong footprint of the local industry. For this, we are prepared to invest €1.7bn ($2.01bn) as soon as we receive the final confirmation by the Taiwanese authorities.

“The success of the projects in Taiwan is key for Taiwan’s role as a preferred market for investors and as hub for the region.”

For this project, MHI Vestas will deliver 36 of its V164 turbines. CS Wind Taiwan will manufacture towers for these locally.

Formosa Heavy Industry and CTCI Machinery will provide monopile foundation structures, set by Seaway Heavilift. /

/ Prominet Power has acquired two biomass power projects in Japan from independent energy and waste infrastructure developer Equis for an undisclosed sum.

As part of the deal, the Tokyo Gas subsidiary has acquired the 51.5MW Fushiki Manyofuto biomass power plant, situated in Toyama Prefecture. This plant is currently in development, and is expected to begin operations in October next year.

It has also bought the 75MW Ichihara Yawatafuto facility in Chiba Prefecture, previously owned by Equis Asia Fund 2.

Construction works will begin in October this year, with operations set to start in January 2024.

Both projects will use 100% wood pellets to generate energy. Once completed, they have will have the capacity to power 189,000 households in the region, while offsetting 120,900t of greenhouse gas emissions annually.

The power generated by the two projects will supply Hokuriku Electric Power Company and TEPCO Power Grid for 20 years, under power purchase agreements.

The sale of the two projects is said to be part of Equis’ strategy to sell assets from various funds.

A group of nine banks has financed the Fushiki Manyofuto construction, led by Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Bank and Shinsei Bank. Both of these banks have agreed to provide $232m (JPY24.6bn) of non-recourse project financing. /

/ UK-based private equity firm Actis has reportedly started talks to acquire more than 550MW capacity of green energy projects from Indian company ReNew Power.

Livemint quoted sources with knowledge of the development as saying that Actis has offered $403m (Rs30bn) for this acquisition.

The proposed acquisitions include Pavagada Solar Park, a 300MW solar project located in Tumkur district in the state of Karnataka, and a 250MW wind farm in the state of Gujarat.

In April 2017, the 250MW solar facility was acquired by Indian power producer Ostro Kutch Wind.

In 2018, ReNew Power acquired Ostro Energy from Actis. The deal, valued at $1.5bn, saw ReNew take control of the wind farm.

Actis established Ostro Energy in 2014. It has projects across India, including in the states of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Telangana,

Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, and Gujarat.

After holding its initial plans to go public, the Indian company is reportedly planning to raise capital by divesting its assets. /

/ Chemical company Haldor Topsoe is participating in a green hydrogen project in Denmark, aiming to scale up to 1.3GW of production over ten years.

The currently unnamed scheme is seeking funding from the Danish Government to develop a three-phase, wind-powered green hydrogen electrolysis plant.

The first stage would produce 10MW-equivalent of hydrogen by 2023, intended to fuel goods vehicles and buses. Production would then increase to 250MW-equivalent by 2027.

This would use carbon capture from waste and biomass facilities to make renewable methanol, fuelling ships and planes. The final phase would increase production to a full capacity of 1.3GW by 2030, capturing more CO₂ in the process.

Haldor Topsoe said in a statement that the development of the second two phases would depend on the completion of an offshore wind farm near Bornholm island.

The Bornholm project would create an artificial island in the Baltic Sea to help with farm operations and maintenance. The wind farm itself would generate up to 4GW of energy by 2030. It has been granted the potential to eventually scale up to 10GW of generation.

Funds for the project have come from wind farm developer Ørsted, hydrogen equipment producer Nel, logistics company DSV Panalpina, shipping company AP Moller – Maersk, and hydrogen specialists Everfuel. /