Whitehelm Capital and Daimyo AS have agreed to merge their energy from waste activities in Norway in a new joint venture, Saren Energy.
The new company will bring together the 32.4MW Sarpsborg Avfallsenergi and 25MW Kvitebjørn Bio-El plants and will deliver more than 300 GWh of steam and heat to a district heating network and local industries.
The companies said the joint venture will create a highly efficient organization focused on providing long-term, environmentally friendly waste treatment solutions and the production of energy from waste from a portfolio of two modern energy recovery facilities.
They added that Saren Energy is ideally placed to drive further consolidation and efficiencies in fragmented regional markets in the Nordics.
Sarpsborg Avfallsenergi is a Norwegian renewable heat generation plant that was commissioned in March 2010. The facility is located in world leading biorefiner Borregaard ASA’s industrial site in Sarpsborg, south of Oslo.
SAE uses a feedstock of c.80,000 tons of waste per year to replace fossil fuel as an alternative energy source, and says this allows an environmental reduction of 40,000 tons per annum of CO2 emissions, equivalent to the environmental benefit of four million trees.
Kvitebjørn Bio-El is a Norwegian fuel-flexible waste-to-energy plant located at Øra, Fredrikstad, in close proximity to SAE.
The yearly gross production is c.160 GWh supplied as heat to Fredrikstad Fjernvarme AS, steam to local industrial companies, and electricity to the grid.
“Waste-to-energy plants with efficient heat recovery systems and high energy utilization like SAE and BIOEL are key treatment facilities for municipal solid waste in Europe and major contributors to the reduction of the climate impacts of modern waste management,” said Whitehelm Capital head of infrastructure equity, Europe and North America, Matteo Andreoletti.
Chairman of Kvitebjørn Energi and partner at Daimyo Anders Ombustvedt said “We are thrilled by the structural and operational possibilities that have become available with the merger; we can create even better offerings for new and existing customers.
“This transaction enables the creation of an energy recovery business with scale, providing the best possible service to local communities under an efficient and environmentally conscious organization.”
Whitehelm and Daimyo were advised by DNB Markets.