3i Infrastructure backed Future Biogas acquires portfolio of six anaerobic digestion facilities

15 AUGUST 2024

3i Infrastructure plc ("3i Infrastructure" or "the Company") today announces that Future Biogas, one of the largest anaerobic digestion ("AD") plant developers and biogas producers in the UK, has agreed to acquire 51% of a portfolio of six gas-to-grid AD facilities, with a combined gas output of 333GWh, from JLEN Environmental Assets Group Limited ("JLEN") for £68.1 million. £30 million will be funded by 3i Infrastructure, with the balance funded by Future Biogas from committed debt facilities.

Future Biogas is very familiar with these assets, having originally developed five of the six plants as well as operating each for an average of eight years. As majority owner, Future Biogas will be able to deliver investment-led enhancements already identified by the management team. The acquisition also provides Future Biogas with immediate scale, which we expect will be attractive to potential acquirers when we decide to exit.

In line with our original investment thesis, since 3i Infrastructure first invested in Future Biogas in 2023, the company has successfully transitioned from being a third-party plant operator to an asset owner and developer, with a 1.3TWh pipeline of new sites. 

Construction has also begun at the Gonerby Moor site, which, as previously announced, will operate on an unsubsidised basis under a 15-year green gas offtake agreement with AstraZeneca.

Philipp Lukas, Chief Executive Officer of Future Biogas, said: "We are very pleased to be acquiring a stake in this portfolio of anaerobic digestion plants from JLEN, who we will continue to work with constructively. We know the assets well having developed them and managed them for an average of eight years. The transaction is a key step in building a scalable AD platform under Future Biogas, enabling us to upgrade the plant portfolio and extend their lives beyond the current RHI subsidy. Critically, it provides a means to continue to deliver under our Project Carbon Harvest mission to generate and supply green gas, helping decarbonise UK farms and industry."

Scott Moseley and Bernardo Sottomayor, Managing Partners and Co-Heads of European Infrastructure, 3i Investments plc, Investment Manager of the Company, said: "It is increasingly clear that biogas will play an important role within the UK's energy transition. This acquisition represents an important milestone, clearly establishing Future Biogas as the leading independent owner and developer of AD plants in the UK."

-ENDS-

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Notes to editors:

3i Infrastructure plc

3i Infrastructure plc is a Jersey-incorporated, closed-ended investment company, an approved UK Investment Trust, listed on the London Stock Exchange and regulated by the Jersey Financial Services Commission. The Company's purpose is to invest responsibly in infrastructure, delivering long-term sustainable returns to shareholders and having a positive influence on its portfolio companies and their stakeholders.

3i Investments plc, a wholly-owned subsidiary of 3i Group plc, is authorised and regulated in the UK by the Financial Conduct Authority and is the investment manager of 3i Infrastructure plc.