27 Oct 2008 07:00
NEWS RELEASE
Ramco Energy plc
SeaEnergy Renewables Limited - Operational Update
Aberdeen, Scotland - 27 October 2008:
Ramco Energy plc ("Ramco" or the "Company"), the Aberdeen based energy investment company, is pleased to provide an update on SeaEnergy Renewables Limited ("SeaEnergy"), its 88% owned subsidiary, which has made significant progress since its launch just four months ago.
Highlights:
Scottish Territorial Water Offshore Windfarm bids submitted
Heads of Terms for joint venture signed with Airtricity
SeaEnergy holds a 25% participation interest in the Joint Venture
Appointment of David Sigsworth as Non-Executive Director of SeaEnergy
Royal Bank of Canada ("RBC") appointed as financial adviser engaged in assisting SeaEnergy in its funding requirements
SeaEnergy has signed Heads of Terms to form a joint venture with Airtricity, a subsidiary of Scottish and Southern Energy plc ("SSE"). Through the joint venture with Airtricity, SeaEnergy has recently applied for offshore wind farm acreage pursuant to the Crown Estate's Offshore Windfarm Development within Scottish Territorial Waters. SeaEnergy has also applied for further acreage in this licensing round with another partner. The results of this round are expected to be announced by the Crown Estates by 31st December 2008.
Ramco is also pleased to confirm the appointment today of David Sigsworth as a non-executive director of SeaEnergy. After spending over ten years as a main board director of FTSE 100 utility companies he retired in March 2005 following a career spanning 43 years in the energy sector. David held several appointments in Yorkshire Electricity Board before joining the North of Scotland Hydro Electric Board in 1987. He was appointed as Commercial Director of Scottish Hydro Electric plc in January 1995 and subsequently held several positions on the board of SSE.
During the latter part of his career, David had responsibility for all of SSE's environmental issues and managed one of the largest and most diverse generation fleets in the UK with over 10,000 MW of plant. He was also responsible for a £1bn programme of investments in renewable generation technologies. Projects included a large new hydro scheme on Loch Ness, tidal stream developments, various micro-generation systems as well as major on and offshore wind farms including the deepwater Beatrice Wind Farm Project in the Moray Firth. During this period David was also a director of Solarcentury Ltd, one of the UK's most successful downstream solar businesses.
David is now active in promoting high technology start-up companies, involved in the renewable and sustainable energy markets, and holds several associated non-executive directorships. He is also Chairman of Sigma Capital Group plc, Chairman of the Scottish Environment Protection Agency, Chairman of the Dundee Science Centre, Vice President of the Combined Heat and Power Association (CHPA), a board member of Energy Action Scotland, a member of the Advisory Boards of ITI Energy and the New and Renewable Energy Centre (NaREC), as well as a trustee of the think tank Sustainability First.
David has a degree in electrical engineering, is a Chartered Engineer, a Fellow of The Royal Society of Arts and a Professor at the University of Dundee.
In addition to David's appointment, SeaEnergy recently confirmed that it had appointed RBC as its financial adviser. RBC Capital Markets is ranked among the top 15 global investment banks and over the past five years has been one of the leading advisers in the European Renewable Energy market.
Steve Remp, Chairman of Ramco, said:
"The SeaEnergy team have achieved a great deal in a relatively short space of time. We are delighted to be working alongside a leading utility such as SSE.
We are also delighted to welcome someone of David's calibre to the SeaEnergy board. He has an unrivalled wealth of experience and expertise which will be invaluable to the Company going forward. We look forward to working with him."
27 October 2008
ENQUIRIES:
| Ramco Energy plc | ||
| Steven Bertram | Managing Director | 01224 748480 |
| SeaEnergy Renewables Limited | ||
| Kay Shelby-James | 01224 766906 | |
| John East & Partners Limited | ||
| David Worlidge | 020 7628 2200 | |
| College Hill | ||
| Nick Elwes | 020 7457 2020 |
www.seaenergyrenewables.com
www.ramco-plc.com
Notes to Editors:
SeaEnergy was established by its management team and Ramco to exploit the global opportunities for large scale offshore wind farm development. The SeaEnergy team has decades of experience in the offshore oil and gas and power generation industries and most recently completed the Beatrice Wind Farm development for Talisman Energy and SSE. Ramco is providing the team with corporate and project finance expertise as well as the experience of building and managing large consortia to develop and support projects of the magnitude required for large-scale offshore wind farm developments.
The SeaEnergy team, through the Beatrice Wind Farm development, have delivered a series of "first ever" feats never before attempted in offshore wind farm development, including:
The first ever use of the world's largest wind turbine (5MW) offshore
The first ever use a "jacket" subsea structure for an offshore wind turbine
The first ever deployment of a wind turbine in deepwater (45 metres)
The first ever assembly of a turbine, tower, rotor, and blades onshore for installation in one piece offshore
SeaEnergy's Goals are:
To be the partner of choice
To be at the forefront in the application of marine renewable technologies
To be the recognised leader in marine renewable energy
To develop a portfolio of 3-5GW in 3-5 years, generating within 10 years
To own net interests of 1GW in 5 years
To create enterprise value of > £500million within 5 years
SeaEnergy's strategy is to identify large scale offshore wind farm projects and build consortia to develop and project manage these installations. SeaEnergy has already identified a number of potential opportunities which the team are looking to develop; initially these are expected to be in the EU.
RBC Capital Markets:
RBC Capital Markets is the corporate and investment banking arm of Royal Bank of Canada (RY on TSX and NYSE), Canada's largest bank as measured by assets and market capitalisation (market capitalisation of C$62 billion as at 12/9/08). RBC is the 5th largest financial institution in North America and ranks among the top 25 banks in the world (#15 as at 12/9/08). RBC has over 75,000 employees globally, serving more than 16 million personal, business, public sector and institutional clients through offices in 47 countries around the world. RBC has a solid liquidity position and is well positioned relative to its peers. RBC's Tier 1 capital ratio of 9.5% is well above most global financial institutions and its senior debt ratings are among the highest of financial institutions globally: S&P AA- (stable); Moody's Aaa (stable); Fitch AA. RBC was named "2007 Bank of the Year" in Canada by The Banker. RBC has been named the safest bank in Canada and 3rd safest in North America (Global Finance 1999-2007). For more information, please visit www.rbc.com
SEA.L (SEA)