Spring Investor Update 2019 main author: Nicholas Dimmock BA MBA(CASS), Director of Investor Relations, 350 PPM Ltd. Section ‘Sector Commentary’ by the 350 PPM research team.
_____________________
Headlines in Order of Funding
Solar 350: Reaches verbal agreement to sell 420 MW pipeline, US buyer encourages further 2 GW of acquisitions / development in Mexico.
350 PPM: Exhibits at Master Investor Show, continues to scale rapidly.
Storelectric: Raises £700,000+ through 350 PPM, makes final in British Renewable Energy Awards.
Waste to Energy Solutions: Agrees strategic alliance with data centre company, continues SEIS fundraise.
Power On Demand Services: Makes key hires and prepares for SEIS fundraise.
.
_____________________
Contents
Sector & Business Case Analysis Under 350 PPM
Company Updates:
.
_____________________
About 350 PPM
350 PPM Ltd is an environmental incubator and business accelerator specialising in green investment opportunities often categorised as “ESG” Investments.
350 PPM Ltd directly identifies Companies, Projects and Technologies that it believes will benefit substantially from the implementation of The Paris Agreement; the new global treaty to combat climate change which has now been ratified and comes into force on 1st January 2020.
350 PPM then structures these opportunities under the UK’s Enterprise Investment Scheme (EIS) where possible and works with, advises, assists and raises finance for such businesses along the commercialisation runway, to ensure they reach their full potential.
The commercialisation runway is defined within 350 as 4 stages: Incubation, Expansion, Project Finance, and Listing. 350 PPM always invests in the companies it champions and builds meaningful stakes in such businesses.
By working closely with the client company at every stage and assisting in its growth where possible, 350 PPM can protect its and its investor’s interests, influence the outcome and potentially share in the client company’s and its investment client’s success both now and in the future.
All companies that 350 PPM champions are designed to profit from the implementation of The Paris Agreement. The Paris Agreement is expected is result in a 90 Trillion Environmental Revolution, which is expected to boost economic growth significantly:
https://newclimateeconomy.report/2016/
https://newclimateeconomy.net/content/commentary-90-trillion-question
Sir Nicholas Stern estimates that not combating climate change will lead to losses in global GDP of between 5 and 20% based on several factors the most significant of which are breakdowns in supply chains, global unrest through loss of agricultural capabilities, fresh water supply issues, loss of land mass and housing.
Summary and Link to Actual “Stern” Report can be found here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stern_Review.
.
_____________________
Sector & Business Case Analysis Under 350 PPM
Economically speaking, operating a multi-sector brokerage is the more sensible option. Investors have their own ideas in terms of what they wish to invest in and thus having a wide range of financial opportunities allows the brokerage to fulfil their demands. Thus in the short term, these operations are generally more successful. Give the customer whatever they want.
The current success of crowdfunding confirms this – reach a certain stage and any company that can raise 75% of their target themselves, can attract a further 75% of their target and overfund. Things are rarely working out as expected for the funded companies, however. We believe this is down to the lack of understanding of the individual business sectors the crowdfunders are dealing with – how can they be experts in every field? They would need to be Richard Branson to the power of 10.
Admittedly, business is roughly similar across the sectors in the same way that sport is. Good at cricket, reasonable at golf, decent at tennis. But to truly succeed in a specific business, participants need a high proportion of brilliance. And this means a tacit understanding of how specific industries really work. It all looks simple, as you watch Nadal hammer in another ace, but it’s not. Testament to this is the high proportion of “trainwrecks” emanating from the crowdfunding industry: http://fantasyequitycrowdfunding.blogspot.com
The banks and large brokerages are a little different. They will all have their own sector analysts, salesmen, traders, MDs, VPs etc.
350 PPM is however a niche player and increasingly our niche becomes more defined. And this is where expected synergies have started to show through. Meaning that the harder route is now paying dividends (no pun intended).
When Steve Jobs took control back of Apple, they were running over 1,000 product lines. From memory of the book, he initially reduced this down to 1 product they made themselves – the MP3 Player. Absolute specialisation. (https://www.amazon.co.uk/Steve-Jobs-Exclusive-Walter-Isaacson-ebook/dp/B005J3IEZQ/ref=tmm_kin_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=&sr=)
The issue then becomes, well, if all the businesses you fund are the same, surely I need to diversify across multiple sectors. Well this might be true, but if you read Peter Lynch’s “One Up on Wall Street”, he advocates specialisation and not what he calls “diworseification” (into sectors that aren’t doing well and that you don’t know about). https://www.amazon.co.uk/One-Up-Wall-Street-Fireside-ebook/dp/B007ABG5HO/ref=tmm_kin_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=&sr=
————–
Anyway, let me just tell you how things are progressing within 350 because in the next section I am going to ask for your help:
Obviously, as you will shortly read, in Q1 we have had some amazing news in regard to Solar 350. However, S350 hasn’t had the easiest time of it overall. We have had difficulties finding funding; we have been marketing our projects to over 100 infrastructure funds, VCs, family offices, developers and we have had difficulties with HMRC in regard to EIS.
The most frustrating factor was the level of interest we had each time with institutional investors. But as you’ll read shortly, you only need one. And like buses, as soon as you find one, you find many.
The interesting thing now is that as we revisit these counterparties and pitch them Storelectric, Waste to Energy Solutions and Power On Demand Services, there is again very significant interest. So much so that presently 350 has interest from Institutional Investors (these are the people that will be buying or financing construction of the “Ready to Build” Project Development sites) for Storelectric, Waste to Energy Solutions and Power On Demand Services.
There is of course the counter argument that this is just a sign of the times. If you have a $90 Trillion Environmental Revolution on the horizon backed up by an international agreement through the United Nations (The Paris Agreement) you are going to have very considerable interest. However, the point I am making is that all of the businesses we will fund have the same sort of business model and their path as we take them from Incubation, to Expansion, Institutional Investment and then hopefully to listing is becoming increasingly well-trodden.
And this is where the synergies of the specialists are starting to show.
So let me just take you through the logic, before we consider any more of this madness.
Financing startups is a high risk / high reward activity after all.
————–
More greenhouse gases mean hotter temperatures.
Hotter temperature and more energy in a closed system causes significant economic, socio-economic and life threatening problems.
The Paris Agreement commits to keep world temperatures under 2 degrees C of pre-industrial times.
This means the investment required globally is going to be circa $90 trillion between now and 2050 – bell curve of course, but no idea of the skew.
350 PPM is financing the enablers and facilitators of this environmental revolution – the guys/gals that do the running around and prepare the sites for construction.
Under the Kyoto Protocol there were 10,000 environmental projects. Under The Paris Agreement we estimate there will be 100,000.
————–
Ok, so here is the ask.
We need you – the visionaries and environmental all-stars to help us promote our business. We need more investment clients to finance more companies we will bring to the market, so we can get a bigger slice of this $90 trillion nascent market.
I suppose this will be easier for you to do if you are an existing investor in 350 PPM, but even if you’re not now, you still can be. Contact your Investor Relations Consultant if you’d like to take a look at 350 PPM.
Although, of course, you are under no obligation.
If you would like to help us and the fight against climate change, we can provide you with an Environmental All-stars T Shirt. We have Green (for the guys – L and XL), Black (S/M) and Pink (S/M) for the girls. Even if you don’t wish to promote us directly, please email Ilona on settlements@350ppm.co.uk and order one of these for yourself Free of Charge (as long as you, or your offspring will wear it).
Anyway, please do you best to promote our work, if you think we are worthy. Forwarding this post to wealthy friends, rich and powerful enemies would count and every bit of promotion we can achieve would help.
Testimonials would also help. You could add yours here: https://350ppm.co.uk/testimonials/
We are all in this for the money, but ultimately, for investing early, you are all Environmental All-stars so please do email Ilona on settlements@350ppm.co.uk and help yourself or get one for your kids / grand kids.
————–
And finally:
- Just so you know that we are taking this very seriously and re-investing in the business, I am currently driving a light blue 2007 Honda Civic. March will be our best month ever, and yes I am due an upgrade, but we are re-investing everything back into the business at present and thus depreciating investments in luxury items is just not one of our priorities at present. Growth and scale, however, are.
- We are planning a day out at Henley Royal Regatta on the 5th of July. This year is the 30th Anniversary of my win in The Princess Elizabeth Cup, having also won in 88 and come second, annoyingly in 87. The strange thing is that we should have won in 87, and in 88, but should have definitely lost in 89. However, we ended up pulling an 16 stone rabbit out of a very small hat. I am hoping this is a good omen for this year. You are all going to be invited so if you would like to attend, please keep Friday 5th July free..
_____________________
Sector Commentary
It’s been a busy few weeks in the world of green business and climate change. We can’t cover it all, but looming over everything, of course, is Brexit. We remain in limbo, with the in-between state of mechanisms such as the EU ETS (Emissions Trading System) – mentioned in our last update – providing a significant financial headache for some companies. For example, British Steel has asked the government for a £100 million loan as it is unable to pay its upcoming ETS bill, after UK firms were suspended from accessing ETS allowances. If you would like to read in depth about the relationship between Brexit and climate, we recommend this article at Business Green.
Leaving Brexit aside, it is heartening to see that 350 PPM’s frustration over government inaction on climate change continues to spill out into broader society, as highlighted by recent school strikes and last week’s Extinction Rebellion protests in London. Regardless of whether you agree with the methods involved, the climate change message – specifically the urgency – is as high-profile as it ever has been. This can only be a good thing. If you haven’t seen David Attenborough’s excellent recent TV programme on climate change yet, find it here.
For what they are worth, the climate activists Extinction Rebellion have three demands. One of these is for government to act to reduce the UK’s greenhouse emissions to net zero by 2025. However desirable this might be from a climate change perspective, this is, obviously, not something the government would reasonably be able to deliver. The government has asked the Committee on Climate Change (CCC) to assess the feasibility of going to net zero over much longer timescales (~2050), with results to be released shortly (update: now released). Such a step-up in climate change ambition – if it were ever to happen – might have been seen as progressive by the general public a few months ago; now perhaps less so.
Recently released statistics suggest the government needs to do more simply to meet its current, legally-binding climate change ambitions, let alone any loftier ones. Compiled by the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS), these statistics confirm that projected shortfalls against the country’s fourth and fifth carbon budgets, for the periods 2023 – 2027 and 2028 – 2032 respectively, have increased compared to previous estimates. It is now thought that the UK will fall short by some 139 MtCO2e (million tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent) for the fourth carbon budget (a 50% increase compared to last year’s projections), and 245 MtCO2e for the fifth (a 25% increase).
Given this outlook, it is interesting to briefly and non-comprehensively review recent government actions and statements. In short, the picture is decidedly mixed.
On the positive side, the government announced a new sector deal for the offshore wind industry, with the hope of expanding the sector from ~8 GW today to 30 GW by 2030. Quoting Claire Perry, the Energy & Clean Growth Minister:
“This new Sector Deal will drive a surge in the clean, green offshore wind revolution that is powering homes and businesses across the UK, bringing investment into coastal communities and ensuring we maintain our position as global leaders in this growing sector.
By 2030, a third of our electricity will come from offshore wind, generating thousands of high-quality jobs across the UK, a strong UK supply chain and a fivefold increase in exports.”
While this deal is admirable, it reminds us that large-scale onshore wind and solar are being left to their own devices, with little in the way of government support for new projects.
The same is true of small-scale renewable electricity generation. New projects were being supported by the Feed in Tariff (FiT) subsidy, but this closed to new participants at the end of March 2019. According to the FiT register, the scheme currently supports ~6GW of renewables, ~5 GW of which is solar PV, more than half of which are domestic installations. As you would hope, existing installations will go on receiving payments (for 20/25 years from installation), but without FiT to support new installations, growth in small-scale renewables is likely to suffer. Crazily, with the scheme now closed, newly installed PV panels, as an example, currently receive no payments for exporting excess electricity to the grid. The government is in the process of introducing a ‘Smart Export Guarantee’ to correct this, but this clearly should have been introduced earlier, to coincide with the end of FiT.
Flipping back to the positives, the chancellor outlined a few new clean growth measures in his Spring Statement. We only cover the most noteworthy ones here. Quoting the government’s website:
- “To help ensure consumer energy bills are low and homes are better for the environment, the government will introduce a Future Homes Standard by 2025, so that new build homes are future-proofed with low carbon heating and world-leading levels of energy efficiency.
- To give people the option to travel ‘zero carbon’, the government will launch a call for evidence on Offsetting Transport Emissions to explore consumer understanding of the emissions from their journeys and their options to offset them. This will also investigate whether travel providers should be required to offer carbon offsets to their customers.
- To help meet climate targets, the government will advance the decarbonisation of gas supplies by increasing the proportion of green gas in the grid, helping to reduce dependence on burning natural gas in homes and businesses.”
Depending on exactly what the third measure in that list means in practice, the first measure is potentially the most significant as it ends the use of fossil-fuelled heating in new homes. It is worth noting that such a policy would have already been in place if the Conservatives had not axed the Zero Carbon Homes policy back in 2015. Chris Stark, chief executive at the CCC, said the plan represented a “genuine step forward” in reducing UK emissions. Others are less impressed, with Dave Timms, head of political affairs at Friends of the Earth, predictably, but not entirely unfairly, accusing the chancellor of “fiddling in the margins while the planet burns”. I’ll let you decide where the truth lies.
Now onto the company reports….
_____________________
Solar 350 Ltd
Starting Price: £2.50 per share
Current Price: £30 per share
———-
The below excerpt is taken from an Investor Update we issued on Sunday 13th March 2019. A meeting with this San Franciscan Family Office / Infrastructure Fund was held on Tuesday 22nd April.
Dear All,
This update is being sent to Solar 350’s Chairman and CFO, 350 PPM Representatives and Shareholders of Solar 350 Ltd.
Please do be advised that you can always access our quarterly updates on all the businesses 350 PPM is championing here: https://350ppm.co.uk/renewable-money-blog/ and specifically, the last update here: https://350ppm.co.uk/2019/02/winter-investor-update-q4-2018/
This release is an advance to what will be detailed in the Spring Report which will be released mid to late April. Please consider the following Strictly Private and Confidential.
(You are welcome to send on the 350 PPM guide to any friends, colleagues, rich and powerful enemies etc, as 350 PPM is always looking to expand scale of its operations).
UPDATE
- Over the last 36 months Solar 350 has aggregated 5 Pre-construction Development Sites in Mexico for a total of 420 MW. Over the last 9 months we have been marketing these sites to circa 50; Venture Capitalists, Infrastructure Funds, Solar/Renewable Energy Developers, Banks and Family Offices looking for the necessary equity investment (circa $10M on the first project, $126,000,000 for all 420MW).
- This would then sit with the debt we have indicative offers on from 2 Mexican Banks and we could begin construction ( $23M on the first project, circa $294M for all 420MW).
- I am happy to report that on Thursday morning after 2 days of back to back meetings, I shook hands with one of the largest Solar Developers in the world (5 GW (circa 5 Billion USD) of solar construction in 2018 globally) and thus we have verbal agreement for the sale of the first 5 projects, when “Shovel Ready / Ready to Build”. The first 30MW is now weeks away from being “Shovel Ready / Ready to Build). The others are designed to follow with a 6-9 months stagger in each case.
- At the same meeting, the buyer has also requested that Solar 350 represents his company in Mexico and facilitates the purchase of a further 1 GW (circa 1 Billion) of operational sites and that we expand our development pipeline to at least a GW next year. In short, he’s looking for 2.5B of Solar assets in Mexico.
- The pressure is now on Adam Smith to secure the Fixed Price “Power Purchase Agreement” directly with Investment Grade Off takers (the companies that will be buying the power). The advent of the fixed price PPA directly with an electricity offtaker is a new channel and development within the Mexican Electricity Market. However, it is now a proven route.
- At present, the projects are on a merchant or variable PPA, but we cannot actually negotiate Fixed Price PPA’s until we have a (prestigious) buyer in place( as of course every off taker / electricity buyer wishes to know who their counterparty is before negotiations begin). The buyer is clearly now in place and we can move past the “indicative offers” stage.
- While the Merchant / Variable PPA’s show considerably higher prices than the fixed price PPA’s, international buyers require the guarantees that the fixed price agreements provide. Interesting, the domestic banks were fine with lending against Merchant PPA’s, but again, the fixed price PPA’s will bring in the international banks.
- We are not home and dry yet, and we have had numerous false dawns before. However developments within the Mexican Electricity Markets: cancellation of the national energy auctions – causing industrials to be concerned about their electricity supply and an ambitious INDC (Intended National Determined Contribution), which has been lodged with the United Nations detailing Mexico ambitions to reduce their emissions, puts pressure on Mexico to reduce fossil fuel generation and increase renewables.
- All of this means that effectively the stars have aligned and our projects have become exceptionally attractive to such entities as detailed above.
- In the last two weeks we have received 2 Letters of Intent detailing buyers wishes to purchase our projects, but never the agreement that we have in place now. In fact, throughout the process we have had a lot of interest and then very considerable vacillation from potential buyers, which although frustrating, is natural in a nascent market like Mexico’s. My feeling in which ever case, is that we are in the right place, with the right resources at the right time.
- The agreement that I have shaken hands on with the Principal and Majority Shareholder of the Project Buyer, is as follows:
- For the first 30 MW and 100 MW: 200,000 USD per MW paid in Milestones. Of which our share is $64,000 per MW.
- For the remaining 290 MW (90MW, 100MW, 100MW): 120,000 USD per MW with 20% equity carry into the projects. Of which our share will be $24,000 per MW and 10% equity Carry into the projects with agreed exit points.
- There is a chance it is premature to relay this information to you, but the buyer is probably in the world’s top 50 wealthiest individuals, he has shaken my hand on this, agreed terms, he is majority shareholder of the purchasing company or has control over it, he has confirmed he is a man of his word (my word is my bond – his words) and thus it is now for us to lose and we must do everything we can to saturate his desire for Mexican Solar Projects.
- Above I have attached our Teaser for the 420MW of Solar Sites and a Research Report we have completed on the opportunities that The Paris Agreement presents. In my opinion, in terms of capital deployment, we are running at about 20% of what will be deployed on a yearly basis going forward, so there is so much opportunity to expand from here.
We now need to paddle very fast to catch this wave. Please don’t hesitate to come back to me with any questions, but I hope this is received well by all.
Yours Sincerely,
Nicholas Dimmock
Managing Director
Solar 350 Ltd
———
On a less positive note, please also find an existing update on the EIS Situation. The strange thing about this is that HMRC seem to think this is a negotiation. It’s not, the business qualifies and that’s it.
RE: THE STATUS OF SOLAR 350 EIS
Dear All,
- In terms of our efforts in dealing with this issue we have so far:
- Corresponded with HMRC / SCEC circa every two months for roughly 3 years and 4 months
- Made official complaints against Small Companies Enterprise Centre / HMRC
- Written to 3 MP’s and I am due to attend a surgery with my local MP shortly
- Sponsored Consersative Party Fundraisers at The Reform Club to gain support for the hapless working practices of SCEC / HMRC
- Sought advice from 3 Accountants all of which said we qualify
- Hired 2 specialist EIS Facilitators ( https://www.sapphirecapitalpartners.co.uk/sapphire-capital-eis-and-seis-team, & https://www.edwincoe.com/our-expertise/corporate-commercial/enterprise-investment-scheme-eis/) both of which confirmed / believed that we qualify.
- In or around November of this year, after circa 2 years and 10 months of requesting clarification (at the request of Solar 350’s Board), from HMRC / SCEC (Small Companies Enterprise Centre), in regard to our status as an EIS Qualifying Company, HMRC advised me that they had rejected our EIS1 Claims made for investors that subscribed to Solar 350 shares from December 2015 onwards and they had advised us of this in July 2018.
- In fact, rather than emailing me direct as they would have done normally (we have been corresponding every two months for the last 3 years like this), HMRC had written to our Accountants (Sue Cater Chartered Accountants) in around July 2018 by post, advising us of their decision and giving us 28 days to launch an appeal. After which their decision then stands (although there is the option to make a late appeal). We missed the 28 days deadline due to the summer malaise, leaving us only with the option to make the late appeal. (More about the appeal later).
- Share Certificates 92 through to 138 are affected. None of the investors with certificates 1 through to 91 are affected. I cannot list everyone, but in or around the pinch time: in terms of investors initials:
- GL, JC, JP, RB, PC: your safe,
- CD, JB, TSE, SP, RB (second trade), ATF, AB, and certainly anyone in 2017 are not safe I am afraid.
- They rejected our claims on the basis of a supposed incorrect “Commencement of Trading Date” which we used on the EIS1 Forms to make the claims: HMRC’s definition of start of trading date is either when the company has a realistic prospect of creating revenue (a purchase order or a contract etc), or when the company receives money in return for its services based the proposed trade and this must occur within 2 years of the start of trade.
- There is now no issue with the actual trading activities of Solar 350, in terms of what we actually have done and now plan to do: our trade qualifies according to them (or else they would have used this as the reason to decline our EIS Claims), rather than use a technicality.
- Please note that during the process of ascertaining what Solar 350 could do and could not do under the EIS, we did make certain suggestions. These were approved by HMRC individuals responsible for interpreting the updated Finance Act 2015 (which contains the EIS Text), yet were rejected by HMRC’s inspectors. However, we never acted on those that were declined. There is nothing wrong with seeking to define the boundaries of what is acceptable or not, after all.
- We have subsequently launched a late appeal based on the following and our right to appeal has been granted.
- The vindictive and obstructive treatment we have experienced from HMRC/SCEC since Novermber 2015, when we approached them to request clarification on our EIS status (in good faith).
- That we believe the trading date is correct due to 2 contracts we had in place in Chile and subsequent payments for services we have received since this date. (You have to not only start the trade but continue to conform to their trading rules for 3 years of course).
- I am now banned from dealing with them directly, having demonstrated my mild irritation vocally and in an email to them. Accordingly, I have handed the job over to Lauren Shanahan-Smith (350 PPM’s Internal Legal Counsel). Lauren has been running the other claims for 350 PPM companies very successfully so it is ideal that she can take over and hopefully get things resolved. The Senior Inspector we had been dealing with has now moved the case to his superior.
- If we don’t finally prevail, we will have to come up with another solution to in some way compensate the failed reliefs, though the compensation must be appropriate to the issue in question, fair, right, reasonable and just and not on the basis of admitting any admitting any liability or misrepresenting Solar 350’s EIS position. The fact is that the advanced assurance was still in place when investors subscribed, and the business is EIS qualifying; HMRC are trying to decline your EIS reliefs based on a technicality; start of trading date.
- If you believe that we should launch some sort of compensatory offer now and this is the right thing to do. Please do let me know, but I have to treat everyone in this group the same. Though please do consider that young companies striving for revenues, with suitably disclaimed Information Memorandum’s generally don’t have the cash reserves to provide refunds.
- I am also wondering about the wisdom of operating the business from the UK, and paying UK Taxes, while our operations are chiefly offshore. Paying a huge amount of tax to an entity that has in effect rather vindictively tried to destroy our funding routes does not sit well with me.
In short, it’s not all bad. Solar 350 hasn’t raised any outside finance since mid 2017, and so our focus has been getting on with the business (please see prior email for developments). We see the need, in the event of ultimate failure of EIS to compensate appropriate parties with no admission of guilt or wrongdoing and of course, we are sorry for this EIS situation.
Our mistake was to approach HMRC in the first place, and we would have been much better to just get on with the business and keep under the Radar. Approaching HMRC is rather like stopping a traffic cop to ask if you have been speeding.
Please don’t hesitate to come back to me with any questions and I look forward to hearing from you,
Best
Rgs
Nick
—
____________
350 PPM LTD
Starting Price: £12.50 per share
Current Price: £170 per share
———-
I have already reported on some of the activities within 350 PPM and the synergies that are showing through, so below is a slightly abridged version.
Having had a fantastic first year of trading and recording profits of £145,000 from November 2016 through to November 2017 as per our Companies House Filing, as many of you know we then restructured our business for the better and relaunched in August 2018 with new Investor Relations Consultants, namely Chris Gray and Paul Barnett.
Since then, monthly transacted volumes have increased from circa 50k per month to now, when we are clocking circa 300k of investment per month. What is more, third party brokers are joining to market opportunities that we are originating. So hopefully we are fully ensconced and running up the J Curve.
The size of transaction investors are starting to consider is also growing rapidly as we facilitate the introduction of our corporate clients to Infrastructure Funds, Family Offices, VCs and Private Equity Groups.
Notwithstanding the $2.5B of potential orders Solar 350 has (verbally – still a lot of work to do), we have investors considering investment into a fund that will finance the pre-construction development of Storelectric’s projects, Waste to Energy Solutions is speaking to VCs about circa £100M of Project Finance, and Power On Demand Services is approaching institutional investors in regard to £500M.
As such, the commercialisation runway we have marketed to our corporate clients – Incubation, Expansion, Project Finance and Listing – is becoming more defined as we move forward.
350 PPM exhibited at the Master Investor Show earlier this month. Find out more in this video:
———-
New Clients
350 PPM is always looking for new clients. If you have suitable friends, colleagues or rich and powerful enemies, please don’t hesitate to provide them with our details. They can register themselves here: https://350ppm.co.uk/investments/ or they can register at your Research Request Portal here: https://350ppm.co.uk/researchrequests/.
I am afraid we can’t reward you financially, however, we can offer you a 350 PPM Environmental All Star T-Shirt, shown earlier in this post, together with instructions on how to request a T-Shirt.
.
Disarmco Holdings Ltd
Starting Price: £5.51 per share
———-
There is no news available at this time.
Storelectric Ltd
Starting Price: £0.25 per share (post 1:100 share split)
Current Price: £1.15 per share (post 1:100 share split; latest model price £1.59)
———-
Please note that on 18/12/2018, a Storelectric share split took place. This had no effect at all on the valuation of Storelectric as a whole or individual shareholdings in Storelectric. For each 1 share that an existing shareholder used to own, the shareholder now holds 100 shares, at a price that is 1/100th of the pre-split price. To repeat, there is zero overall effect for existing shareholders. The split was performed so that new shareholders could buy at £1.15 per share and not £115. This is a more practical and psychologically comfortable value.
———-
Fundraising
Storelectric’s current fundraising round with 350 PPM has proved extremely popular to date – raising over £700,000 – and remains open, for the time being, for those interested in investing. As stated previously, there is a funding limit, and this may be the last opportunity for retail investors to get involved in the near-term.
For those new to Storelectric, the six-word pitch is ‘enabling renewables to power the world’. This is achieved by storing renewable energy on a large-scale using Compressed Air Energy Storage (CAES). CAES works by using electricity to compress air, then expanding this air through a turbine when needed. Storelectric is now working with NAM, the largest energy company in the Netherlands, jointly owned by Shell and Exxon. There is a video introduction to Storelectric available.
For further information, please contact your Investor Relations Consultant, or contact us.
————
News
Below we repeat Storelectric’s recent news update from their website, posted 29/03/19. If you would like to receive future news updates directly, you can sign up to their newsletter at www.storelectric.com (scroll down to the bottom).
———-
Geotechnical Checks on the Caverns in Teesside
We have completed initial geotechnical checks on the caverns in Teesside and further work needs to be done before we can confirm suitability.
Sembcorp remains very interested as a means of repurposing assets and helping operate the CAES plant once built.
A landowner in Canada has a cavern that could be suitable for CAES, discussions have just started and there is interest for this entrepreneur to work with us in the UK and Germany.
Utilising Storelectric Technology on other Projects
We have discussed utilising Storelectric technology in a 2nd PCI project in the Netherlands where we recently met the key players through NAM. A workshop is planned with Storelectric in the UK and they have expressed an interest in supporting our UK opportunities. The same company is also developing projects in Denmark which potentially increases the catchment area of our project pipeline however things are at an early stage but look promising.
Our CEO has finalised an NDA with a larger industrial from Korea, this company has expressed a strong interest to provide funding for the planning approval of our Cheshire project. While it is unclear how many of these developing opportunities will translate into real commitments what is clear is the steadily growing interest in Storelectric.
Funding Call for Large Scale Storage
BEIS recently released a funding call for Large Scale Storage and we are currently in discussions with Siemens, Sembcorp, EDF and Arup looking at possible options, the bid submission date is quite short and funding is limited so the usefulness of this call is questionable nonetheless our CEO is working hard to see if we can structure a successful bid. A renewables fund has already provided a letter of intent for the full match funding if we decide to submit a bid.
Shortlisted at Hello Tomorrow Conference
Storelectric was one of just 80 companies that were nominated out of a global entry of 4,500 cutting edge companies from over 100 countries around the world, where we were shortlisted on the Energy sector. While our pitch was well accepted we were sadly pipped to the winning position.
PCI Results
The PCI results were announced and unfortunately on this our 1st application we were not successful. Nonetheless there is some good news to share, we passed the compliance phase without problems. We had a debriefing session with the evaluators (which greatly enhances our chances for the next call which was released this week). We were evaluated against 4 criteria and we only missed qualifying for the £10 million grant by just 2 marks – in other words we only just missed qualifying. Our colleague Mark is at the PCI open day in Brussels this week to ensure we keep on top of developments and key decision makers.
British Renewable Energy Awards
Storelectric has been selected as a finalist in the 2019 British Renewable Energy Awards, in the Energy Storage category. These awards are the UK’s most prestigious awards for renewable and clean technology sectors. The awards ceremony takes place on the 11th of June.
———-
To add to this, and following on from our last quarterly update, Storelectric has now been employed by NAM to conduct feasibility studies covering both types of CAES (Thermal Energy Storage (TES) and Combined Cycle Gas Turbine (CCGT)), across a range of sizes – 6 variants in total.
Below we repeat a part of Storelectric’s more recent news email, sent 20/04/19.
———-
Brexit Update
Unfortunately, like most other businesses, Storelectric is affected by Brexit. As you know we have one approved and one candidate Project of Common Interest which gives us access, for them, to EU support and funding. Both are located in the UK, though we plan on future PCIs in mainland Europe, starting with the Dutch project for which we’re currently undertaking an early-stage feasibility study for NAM. In brief, the position is:
- We’re currently re-applying for CEF funding for the pre-construction funding of our 500+40MW TES CAES project in Cheshire. This qualifies for the Treasury Guarantee that any funding approved pre-Brexit will be honoured.
- If we crash out without a deal thereafter, there will be no further funding for this or our Cheshire Gas CAES candidate PCI. If on the other hand we remain or exit with a deal, we will continue to qualify.
- Projects based in other EU countries will continue to qualify.
This is NOT official information on which you may rely: if this affects you, please undertake your own assessment. For our fuller assessment, including the one benefit from Brexit and a background understanding of PCIs, please see the 3-page summary here.
.
_____________________
Waste to Energy Solutions Ltd
Starting Price: £0.12 per share
Current Price: £0.33 per share
———-
Waste to Energy Solutions (WES) is now in the process of acquiring Renewable Energy International in a share-financed transaction. Because this requires WES to issue 5,000,000 new shares, in normal circumstances this would mean significant dilution for existing investors. However, due to the anti-dilution clauses within our fundraising agreement, 350 have excised our Stock Claw Call Option, and this has resulted in investors gaining an additional 66% of shares in WES. As such, their purchase price decreases from 20 pence to 12 pence, or from 45 pence to 27 pence.
———-
Fundraising
Fundraising for WES remains open. Investment is currently available with the benefits of SEIS (including up to 50% income tax relief).
For some background, an introduction to the Waste to Energy sector is available, as is an introduction to gas peakers.
Earlier this month, WES were at the Master Investor Show with 350 PPM. See the following video for more:
For further information, please contact your Investor Relations Consultant, or contact us.
———-
News
It’s been a busy few months for the board at WES. Whilst continuing to develop projects in Corby and St Helens, amongst others, they have been building a solid team of industry experts to ensure that all aspects of a project are covered to guarantee financial close.
To date WES has added the following experts to their team:
Phil Allan – Director
Phil is well recognised in the waste treatment and renewable energy space and has successfully managed a number of businesses in the organics and waste markets. He has also been involved with the development of renewable energy projects, including waste to energy, AD, Biomass, Solar and Energy Storage.
Apart from having a wealth of experience in the industry, Phil has also developed relationships with local authorities, numerous waste management companies, together with some major Chinese Corporates and with a number of key enterprises active in this segment (based within the UK and internationally).
This provides Waste to Energy Solutions (WES) with unprecedented access to a number of opportunities in the alternative energy and waste treatment markets. Given the UK Government’s commitment to reducing the impact of waste overall, WES will seek to capitalise on its management’s experience and commercial relationships in these markets.
Sally Barrett-Williams: Energy Barrister
Sally has worked in the energy sector and in regulation, in the UK and overseas, since 1990 and held senior posts both in industry and with industry regulators, before returning to private practice in 2001. She qualified as a barrister and spent time at the Administrative Law Bar before going into private practice with a City law firm. She then joined National Power as Head of UK Commercial Law, before moving on to OFGEM as Assistant Director of Legal Services, from where she went to the Rail Regulator as Director of Legal Services and Chief Legal Adviser. She returned to private practice again with a pan-European law firm, before joining an international law firm, as partner in the Energy Practice. She is now a director of a number of companies, each of which is connected, directly or indirectly, with the renewable energy market, is a partner in The Carbon Catalysts Group and practices as a specialist energy barrister from Energy Law@ Lansdown Chambers.
PB Associates – Waste Suppliers for Waste to Energy Projects
Waste to Energy Solutions Limited have engaged with an alternative fuel supplier PB Associates who can organise feedstock supplies for WES’s waste to energy projects throughout the UK. PB Associates team have over 20 years’ experience within the waste management sector and include members of the Chartered Institute of Waste Management.
PB Associates currently supply RDF (Refuse Derived Fuel) to major Blue Chip companies throughout the UK and Europe with longstanding relationships at board level with such companies. Their combined knowledge of waste management mentality is second-to-none which enables WES to secure long-term feed stock supply for their energy projects but more importantly establishes a bankable product for their project investors.
Stopford Energy and Environment – International Energy Consultants
Stopford is an international energy and environment consultancy providing innovative multidisciplinary solutions to a global market from its North West base. Stopford’s description of themselves:
For over 35 years we have been serving the requirements of a multi-national client base from our team of industry leading experts. As leaders in the energy and environment sector, we have developed complimentary consulting and engineering capabilities comprising innovation, multi-disciplined consultancy, engineered solutions, and education and up-skilling. We provide bespoke services to our clients throughout the lifecycle of projects from our sites in Ellesmere Port and Lancaster University. Key to our success is our alignment with leading academic institutions around the world. We are an Associate Company of the Lancaster Environment Centre, at Lancaster University, providing our staff access to the world class research and development facilities on the campus. These affiliations enable our staff to leverage the best and most up-to-date technologies and know-how to deliver our projects. With activities across Europe, USA, Middle East and Asia Pacific, Stopford is one of the fastest growing energy and environmental consultancies in the UK.
Asanti Data Centres
WES are pleased to announce that a strategic alliance has been agreed with ASANTI DATA CENTRES. WES are developing a number of Renewable Energy Parks in key locations around the country, which will create both power and heat. ASANTI are large consumers of both power and heat to create cooling for their facilities. It is very likely that the first project development will be at Corby, where WES are developing a 7.5MW Waste to Energy Project. ASANTI have identified at the same location an opportunity to locate a data centre base, with the directors of both WES and ASANTI using their combined team and local knowledge to secure anchor clients for this data centre.
Phil Allan, Joint Managing Director of WES, commented that with ASANTI co-locating with WES, this provides the site with a long term off-take for power and heat, helping to underpin future revenues. Allan Rooms, one of the founders of ASANTI, added that working with WES gives ASANTI secure and lower cost power to run data centres, which helps to control one of largest costs of running a facility, so it becomes a “win win” situation for both organisations. Several other locations are currently under consideration and Corby will become the template for future developments together.
As WES work on getting projects to financial close, the experience these additions bring to the team gives WES the added edge to make project funders comfortable in deploying finance.
.
_____________________
Power On Demand Services Ltd
Starting Price: Not Yet Known / Pre-Release
Current Price: N/A
———-
Fundraising
Power On Demand Services (PODS) is currently preparing for a SEIS raise through 350 PPM.
For some background, please see this introduction to gas peakers and this video tour of a gas peaker site.
Earlier this month, PODS were at the Master Investor Show with 350 PPM. Watch the following video for more:
.
_____________________
Contact Information
Tel: +44 (0) 203 151 1 350
Fax: 0203 151 9 350
Level 1, Devonshire House, 1 Mayfair Place, London, W1J 8JA, United Kingdom.
To contact us by email, use the contact us page.
.
_____________________
Risk Warnings
350 PPM Ltd is an Appointed Representative of M J Hudson Advisors Limited (FRN: 692447) which is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority in the UK.
Information contained within this post has been supplied by client companies, or taken from sources considered by 350 PPM Ltd to be reliable, but no warranty is given that such information is accurate or complete and it should not be relied upon as such. 350 PPM Ltd will not be responsible for any loss or damage of any kind which arises, directly or indirectly, and is caused by the use of any part of the information provided.
The value of your investments and the income from them can fall as well as rise. An investor may not get back the amount of money invested. Past performance and forecasts are not reliable indicators of future results. Currency denominated investments are subject to fluctuations in exchange rates that could have a positive or adverse effect on the value of, and income from, the investment.
No representation or warranty is given as to the availability of EIS relief / reliefs. Since the requirements to fall within the EIS must be monitored all the time it is possible that if the requirements are met today, they might not be tomorrow. Investors should consult their professional advisers on the possible tax and other consequences of holding such investments.
The investment opportunities associated with this post are only available to persons who would be categorised as professional clients (including elective professional clients), sophisticated investors and high net worth investors as set out in COBS 3.5 of the FCA Handbook:
https://www.handbook.fca.org.uk/handbook/COBS/3/5.html
for professional clients and COBs 4.12.6 R of the FCA Handbook:
https://www.handbook.fca.org.uk/handbook/COBS/4/12.html#DES582
for high net worth and sophisticated investors.
There is no access to the FSCS. Your capital is at risk if you invest. Please see the full Risk Warning here.