Last checked at 
26 Jan 2023 07:00
26 January 2023
JLEN ENVIRONMENTAL ASSETS GROUP LIMITED
("JLEN" or the "Company")
Acquisition of equity stake in green hydrogen project in Germany
JLEN, the listed environmental infrastructure fund, is pleased to announce its first investment into the green hydrogen sector with the acquisition of a 33% equity stake in Foresight Hydrogen Holdco GmbH ("FHHG").
FHHG holds a 75% stake in HH2E Werk Thierbach GmbH, a Special Purpose Vehicle which owns the development rights to the Thierbach green hydrogen project ("Thierbach"), a large green hydrogen production plant near Borna in Germany, capable of producing around 6,000 tonnes (over 200,000MWh) of green hydrogen per year during the first 100MW phase. Green hydrogen will be produced through electrolysis powered by renewable electricity. The project will also integrate battery storage.
Thierbach is currently under development by HH2E AG ("HH2E"), a developer of hydrogen projects in Germany.
FHHG also owns 7.6% of HH2E and holds the right to majority fund future projects developed by HH2E.
Thierbach will serve green hydrogen customers and off-takers, including leading players in the mobility sector, large-scale energy and industrial consumers such as the chemical industry and commercial air and road transport operators. Further expansion is planned in the future to increase the capacity of the plant to over 1GW with an annual production of over 60,000 tonnes of green hydrogen.
The investment has been made alongside Foresight Energy Infrastructure Partners ("FEIP") and Foresight ITS, with both JLEN and FEIP acquiring their respective 33% interests in FHHG from Foresight ITS. The transaction will see JLEN invest up to €5.7m in FHHG alongside FEIP and Foresight ITS to bring Thierbach to a construction-ready stage. This acquisition represents JLEN's first development-stage hydrogen investment and comes with rights secured to fund the development and build-out of Thierbach and a pipeline of further green hydrogen projects alongside HH2E.
Ed Warner, Chair of JLEN, said: "We are delighted to be making our first investment into green hydrogen. The efforts of the German government and German industry to make Germany one of the leading markets in the emerging hydrogen economy are clear and we believe that this transaction presents JLEN with an excellent opportunity to invest on an ongoing basis as the market matures. We are excited to be partnering with the HH2E team, who have demonstrated their deep understanding of the hydrogen sector and their ability to develop attractive opportunities."
Chris Holmes, Co-Lead Investment Manager of JLEN commented: "The hydrogen sector is growing at pace and presents significant opportunities for JLEN. This investment in HH2E, alongside its investment in a suite of green hydrogen projects in the North West of England, underlines the commitment and skill set of the Investment Manager to this exciting sector."
Andreas Schierenbeck, co-founder and board member of HH2E, said: "Domestic green hydrogen production is crucial to secure a key role for Germany in the future global green energy sector, a sector that is receiving major support from governments in all the world's major economies. German industries will more easily be able to remain competitive if they are not totally dependent on energy imports.
"The technology mix developed by HH2E harnesses the volatility of renewable energy production by combining an alkaline electrolyser with a high-capacity battery, which enables constant production of cost-competitive green hydrogen without a permanent supply of power."
This announcement contains information that is inside information for the purposes of the Market Abuse Regulation (EU) No. 596/2014.
For further information, please contact:
Foresight Group +44 (0)20 3667 8100
Chris Tanner
Chris Holmes
Edward Mountney
Winterflood Investment Trusts +44 (0)20 3100 0000
Neil Langford
Chris Mills
SEC Newgate (For media enquiries) +44 (0)20 3757 6882
Elisabeth Cowell jlen@secnewgate.co.uk
Sanne Fund Services (Guernsey) Limited +44 (0)14 8175 5530
Matt Falla
Gemma Berry
About JLEN
JLEN's investment policy is to invest in a diversified portfolio of Environmental Infrastructure. Environmental Infrastructure is defined by the Company as infrastructure assets, projects and asset-backed businesses that utilise natural or waste resources or support more environmentally friendly approaches to economic activity, support the transition to a low carbon economy or which mitigate the effects of climate change. Such investments will typically feature one or more of the following characteristics:
- long-term, predictable cash flows, which may be wholly or partially inflation-linked cash flows;
- long-term contracts or stable and well-proven regulatory and legal frameworks; or
- well-established technologies, and demonstrable operational performance.
JLEN's aim is to provide investors with a sustainable, progressive dividend per share, paid quarterly and to preserve the capital value of the portfolio over the long term on a real basis. The target dividend for the year to 31 March 2023 is 7.14 pence per share1. The dividend is payable quarterly.
JLEN is an Article 9 fund under the EU Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation and has a transparent and award winning approach to ESG.
Further details of the Company can be found on its website www.jlen.com
About HH2E
HH2E is a new green energy company in Germany founded to bring about immediate change. Its technology mix can convert a variable input of solar or wind energy into a constant flow of competitively priced green hydrogen, heat and carbon-free electricity to power local industries and communities. It recently agreed a financing deal with two institutional investors to develop a further 5 sites in Germany. Learn more about the company, technology and projects at www.hh2e.com
LEI: 213800JWJN54TFBMBI68
(1) These are targets only and not profit forecasts. There can be no assurance that these targets will be met or that the Company will make any distributions at all.