This Announcement contains inside information for the purposes of Article 7 of the Market Abuse Regulation EU 596/2014 as it forms part of UK domestic law by virtue of the European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018.
26 June 2023
ECOFIN U.S. RENEWABLES INFRASTRUCTURE TRUST PLC
(the "Company")
Whirlwind Update
The Company and Ecofin have been saddened to hear of the loss of life in Matador, Texas following the recent tornado and convey their deepest sympathies and condolences to all those affected by this tragic event.
On 21 June 2023, the Company's 59.8 MW Whirlwind Energy wind farm ("Whirlwind") in Floydada, Texas, temporarily ceased operations due to the tornado, which damaged five project-owned transmission poles. There were no casualties or injuries at Whirlwind. The Company has subsequently been informed that the American Electric Power owned substation in neighbouring Matador, through which Whirlwind transmits electricity, was severely damaged during the incident. As a result, Whirlwind will be unable to resume operations until the Matador substation is rebuilt. Due to the outage, the Company has declared a force majeure event with Whirlwind's offtaker, Austin Energy.
Ecofin is working closely with Whirlwind's asset and operations managers to put in place a plan and an expected timetable to remedy the outage at Whirlwind. The Company is also working with its insurance provider to file claims, where applicable, for business interruption and necessary repairs to the damaged project-owned transmission poles. Whether or not the Company is able to recoup potential losses resulting from the tornado under its insurance policies or other contractual arrangements, the Company expects the outage to have a material short term impact on cash flows. As at 31 March 2023, Whirlwind represented 38 per cent. of the net asset value (unaudited) of the Company, or 24.5 per cent. of gross asset value (including group debt)(unaudited).
The Company and Ecofin will continue to work closely with all relevant stakeholders and further announcements will be made as appropriate.
For further information, please contact:
| Ecofin Advisors, LLC (Investment Manager) Edward Russell Eileen Fargis Jason Benson Michael Hart
| +1 913 981 1020 |
| Peel Hunt LLP (Joint Corporate Broker) Liz Yong Luke Simpson Huw Jeremy
| +44 20 7418 8900 |
| Stifel (Joint Corporate Broker) Edward Gibson-Watt Rajpal Padam | +44 20 7710 7600 |
| Apex Listed Companies Services (UK) Limited (Company Secretary) Martin Darragh Maria Matheou | +44 20 3327 9720 |
| FTI Consulting (Financial PR) Matthew O'Keeffe Mitch Barltrop Vee Montebello
| +44 79 7607 5797 |
Further information on the Company can be found on its website at https://uk.ecofininvest.com/funds/us-renewables-infrastructure-trust-plc/.
The Company's LEI is 2138004JUQUL9VKQWD21.
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