Insight
Unlocking the value of your energy infrastructure
Capital financing can enable you to focus on your core business, your electricity assets’ performance and rely on certainty of cost.
Integrating design and construction with long-term operations and maintenance, and third-party financing ensures investment decisions are made with consideration to the longer-term operation and maintenance of the assets. This ‘whole-life’ perspective also offers economies of scale, shares risk and aligns objectives, as well as delivering economically sustainable infrastructure for consumers, government and shareholders equally.
We designed and built, own, operate and maintain High Speed 1’s electricity assets and systems. We’ve invested over £150 million into the design, construction and commissioning of High Speed 1’s traction power and non-traction networks. In addition to our direct capital investment for construction, an efficient capital structure was deployed to competitively finance the operation of the infrastructure, for a term of 50 years after its construction.
Any significant public railway infrastructure projects, like high speed rail projects, must ensure value for money for the taxpayer through the way they are financed and the long-term economic stimulus they provide. High Speed 1 continues to deliver an outstanding legacy, having stimulated sustained growth for both the national economy and local economies along the route during the period of private management. Research by Visit Kent and Destination Research Ltd identified leisure journeys increased nine-fold since the opening of the line, contributing £72 million to the region's visitor economy in 2016 alone. In addition, High Speed 1’s overall economic contribution to Kent’s visitor economy since domestic services began 10 years ago is approximately £311 million, and over £3.8 billion in overall economic and social benefits.
An underlying principle of any financing proposal is to spread costs over time. We currently hold capital finance contracts ranging from 15 to 90 years, in sectors as diverse as rail, airports and defence. Our finance solutions significantly reduce our clients’ risk profile, particularly when linked to our expertise in asset management.
We can vary the profile of capital structures to match a client’s individual requirements and constraints. By spreading the capital costs of electricity infrastructure assets over time, this will provide clients with clarity of costs over the life of the contract. Additionally, certainty is delivered by a direct linkage to output based performance contracts where the risk of power outages, asset performance, asset reliability and asset condition can be passed to us.
Many blue-chip companies rely on us for stewardship of their electricity assets. Ownership of our clients’ electricity assets for a fixed period ensures they are expertly maintained and replaced when required, resulting in a secure and resilient power supply.
We work with businesses to design and implement unique investment, ownership and asset management opportunities. This enables businesses to leverage the value of their electricity network assets and manage their capital efficiently. Whether businesses are adding to or upgrading their existing electricity network, building a new private distribution network or looking for a long-term partner to own, operate and maintain their assets, our capital financing capability will help unlock the potential of their energy infrastructure.