Aggregated Micro Power Holdings (AMP) has acquired majority stake in HWEnergy, a company that specialises in commercial biomass design, installation, biomass bioler service and fuel supply that operates across the UK.
AMP is a distributed energy company specialising in the sale of wood fuels, through their Forest Fuels business, and in the financing, development and installation of energy projects including biomass boiler ESCOs (Energy Supply Contracts) and stand by power generation and battery storage facilities. AMP have over £66m of energy assets under management, including biomass heating and CHP systems, and grid balancing systems.
AMP also has access to considerable funding for new ESCOs via Aggregated Micro Power Infrastructure 2 plc (“AMPIL”) which has just raised £29.5m for new ESCOs. Forest Fuels are one of the leading wood fuels businesses in England and Wales, with annual sales of over 100,000 tonnes of wood fuel to 2, 300 customers from more than 40 depots. AMP trades on the London stock exchange and is listed on AIM.
AMP will be the majority shareholder in HWEnergy, though HWEnergy will remain as an independent and stand-alone business, continuing to operate from our Fort William HQ and Bellshill office.
As well as being able to continue to deliver and develop high quality services to existing clients, this arrangement will also ensure that we are able to grow the breadth and depth of our offering to new customers, as well as increase our geographical spread.
What this will mean in practice for the immediate future is:
Business as usual in Scotland: No day to day changes in operations in Scotland. HWEnergy will continue to deliver end to end services biomass services including new installations, service, heat supply and fuel for new and existing customers.
Service and Heat expansion in England and Wales: We are entering into a partnership with Forest Fuels whereby we will together grow a biomass service and heat supply business in England and Wales.
Financing for new ‘ESCO’ installations: Via AMPIL which has just raised £29.5m of new funds in May 2017, we have the ability to offer finance for new ESCo installations. This will also enable us to offer ESCo financing to larger biomass installations.
‘Commercial Boiler Buy Back’ offer: For both existing and potential customers who may be interested, we are also now able to offer a ‘boiler buy back’ product, which involves selling your biomass installation in exchange for a lump sum payment. Customers who enter into this arrangement are also provided with a long term heat supply contract to ensure continuity of heat supply.
Bruno Berardelli, Managing Director of HWEnergy said: “We have entered into this relationship with AMP as we believe that this provides an extremely exciting range of opportunities for our clients, our company and all of our stakeholders. AMP’s vision for the development of decentralised energy provision is one which we believe will benefit the economy of the country as a whole, help reduce carbon emissions from energy production and provide numerous benefits to our clients. Forest Fuels have long standing credentials in their commitment to growing a sustainable and high quality business in the biomass industry, with a focus on local delivery and customer service. They are the ideal partner for us to work with in England and Wales.”
Richard Burrell, Chief Executive Officer of AMP said: “We are very excited to be working with HWEnergy. Their long standing experience and reputation in the biomass sector will lead to immediate synergies with our own businesses. Our partnership will mean that HWEnergy will be able to offer new ESCo and Commercial boiler buy back products to clients in Scotland, and that they will be able to work with Forest Fuels to expand our Service and Heat business in England Wales. We very much look forward to working with the HWEnergy team in the future.”