• Infinis
    Infinis
    UK

    Utilities

    Overview

    Infinis is the largest generator of electricity from landfill gas (“LFG”) in the UK, with a portfolio of more than 150 operational sites and total installed capacity of over 400MW.

    Alkane Energy acquisition

    In March 2018, the Company announced its intention to increase its investment in Infinis by £125 million to fund Infinis’s acquisition of Alkane Energy (‘Alkane’), an independent power generator from both coal mine methane (‘CMM’) and reserve power (‘Peaking’) operations and the largest generator of electricity from CMM in the UK.

    Recent developments

    Financial performance at Infinis was strong in the year, driven by higher power prices and price volatility which benefitted the power response assets in particular. Infinis’s cashflows are positively correlated with UK inflation through index-linked corporate PPAs and the Government-backed Renewables Obligations Certificate and CfD regimes.

    Infinis has made significant progress establishing a 1.5GW solar and battery pipeline across various stages of development. 103MW of Solar and 16 MW of Battery are currently under construction and on schedule to start generating by summer 2023, which will bring Infinis’s operational asset base to over 550MW. Higher development capex has been offset by a corresponding increase in long-term forecast power prices.

    Investment rationale

    The investment in Infinis is foremost a yield play. Its front-ended cashflows balance other recent investments by the Company in more growth-oriented businesses. Revenues are underpinned by the inflation-linked UK Renewables Obligation Certificate (“ROC”) regime until 2027. Infinis could also become a platform to make new investments in activities such as distributed power generation from other gas sources, distributed energy storage by exploiting the business’s spare engine and grid connection capacity, and additional landfill gas sites.

    Infinis and its market

    Infinis is the largest generator of electricity from LFG in the UK, with a portfolio of 121 landfill sites and total installed capacity of over 300MW. LFG is produced by decomposing organic matter in landfill sites. If released into the atmosphere unchecked, LFG contributes to pollution and is a potent greenhouse gas. By extracting LFG from landfill sites, Infinis fulfils an essential role in helping landfill operators meet their environmental compliance obligations. By using the collected LFG to generate electricity, Infinis supplies distribution networks with a consistent source of baseload power.

    Sustainability

    Infinis is now a diversified, renewable and low carbon energy generation business. It is developing over 1GW of new low carbon energy projects, including solar energy parks. Its continued investment in renewable energy is helping the UK reduce its reliance on fossil fuels and supports the UK’s energy sector transition to net zero. It also reduces electricity costs for consumers. Infinis' broader sustainability strategy revolves around creating value for its stakeholders, through protecting health, wellbeing and safety, reducing carbon emissions, eliminating exploitative work and improving diversity and inclusion. In 2022 the UK National Audit Office identified its Annual Report as best practice in relation to the Stakeholder engagement reporting.