British energy company VPI has refinanced existing debt for its UK combined combustion gas turbine ( CCGT ) portfolio of over 2 gigawatts, including plants at Damhead Creek, Rye House, Shoreham, and Blackburn.

Lloyds Corporate & Institutional acted as the sole structuring bank, agent and sole hedge execution bank for the £280 million financing, and was joined by six banks in the syndicate. Watson Farley & Williams advised VPI.

Headquartered in London, VPI operates eight sites and is developing multiple others across the United Kingdom, Ireland and Germany, with a combined capacity of about 3.5 gigawatts.

VPI generates electricity at its gas-fired plants, including steam recovery generating more electricity from a separate steam turbine. The generated steam is also supplied to nearby industrial customers.

Henry Stewart, global energy sector head at Watson Farley & Williams, comments: “We’re delighted to have advised VPI on the refinancing of its UK CCGT portfolio. This financing reflects investor confidence in the portfolio’s ability to provide flexible, reliable capacity to support the energy system, and the continuing role of gas turbine plants in the UK’s energy transition.”

Last September, VPI was granted the first environmental permit in the UK for its selected amine capture technology, in a major step towards decarbonizing the country’s most carbon-intensive industrial cluster.

The Environment Agency has approved Shell’s patented Cansolv system for use on VPI’s Immingham combined heat and power plant, which sits at the heart of the Humber’s refining and energy cluster.

VPI has also secured planning permission from the North Lincolnshire Council for the carbon capture retrofit, which will “future-proof existing heat and power supply, ensuring it is far cheaper than building a new decarbonized plant from scratch.”

Also last September, VPI signed a deal to develop more than 700MW of utility-scale battery storage in Germany, through a joint venture with Noveria Energy, a project developer backed by Bluestar Energy Capital. 

The 700MW pipeline consists of five battery projects located in the states of Baden-Württemberg and Brandenburg. The projects have capacities ranging from 60MW to 300MW, making them some of Germany’s largest battery storage systems. They are expected to be operational by the end of the decade, with the first project targeted for completion in 2027.