Source - LSE Regulatory
RNS Number : 1450C
Downing Renewables & Infrastructure
26 March 2025
 

Downing Renewables & Infrastructure Trust PLC

("DORE" or the "Company")

Annual Report and Accounts

Downing Renewables & Infrastructure Trust plc (LSE: DORE) announces its Annual Report and Accounts for the financial year ended 31 December 2024 (the "Annual Report").

 

The Annual Report is available to view on the Company's website at:

https://www.doretrust.com/investor-relations

 

Highlights

 

Recycling capital: Disposed of Gabrielsberget wind farm in Sweden, crystallising a total return of 54% over the two year investment period.

Operational excellence: Strong focus on revenue and portfolio optimisation, by investing small amounts of capital in initiatives with material impact including:


Prequalifying two hydro-power assets for the frequency market.


Achieved a positive capture price for the year of 110.9% by implementing our dispatch strategy for our dispatchable hydropower assets.

Acquired three Swedish hydropower plants and their associated storage reservoirs for £5.8 million.

Interim dividends of 5.80 pence per ordinary share declared in respect of the year, in line with target.

2024 cash dividend cover of 1.20x1 (2023: 1.21x), increasing to 1.88x (2023: 1.78x) using pre-debt service cashflows.

Target dividend relating to financial year 2025 increased by 2.6% to 5.95 pence2 per

ordinary share.

Net Asset Value ("NAV") total return1 of 3.8% for the year to 31 December 2024 and 39.3% since IPO in December 2020.

NAV as at 31 December 2024 was £199.9 million (2023: £212.1 million) or 116.7 pence

(2023: 117.7 pence) per ordinary share.

Reducing debt: Lowered leverage to 37%1 (2023: 40%) by utilising divestment proceeds to repay fully £26.7 million drawn debt under the RCF.

The Company's renewable energy portfolio generated 343 GWh in 2024, avoided 161,620 tonnes of CO2e and powered the equivalent of 126,916 UK homes.

Downing Hydro AB, a subsidiary of the Company, achieved 90 points out of 100 on its

GRESB sustainability performance rating ("GRESB") submission, surpassing the GRESB average in all categories.

Continued the buyback programme, purchasing 8.9 million ordinary shares (£7.1 million) during the year at an average price of 80.2 pence creating further value and increasing NAV per ordinary share by 1.8 pps. In line with the peer group, the shares traded at a discount during the year, however DORE continues to provide additional market liquidity to help mitigate discount volatility.

Appointment of a new non-executive Director, Astrid Skarheim Onsum who brings

extensive knowledge of the energy transition and renewable energy sectors across various geographies.

1 These are alternative performance measures.

2The dividend and return targets stated above 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 and they should not be taken as an indication of the Company's expected future results.


Key Metrics


As at or for the year ending 31 December 2024

As at or for the year ending 31 December 2023

Market capitalisation

 

£132m

£162m

Share price

 

77.0 pence

90.0 pence

Dividends paid in the year

 

£10.0m

£9.7m

Dividends paid in the year per ordinary share

5.695 pence

5.285 pence

GAV3,4

 

£319m

£352m

NAV per share

 

116.7 pence

117.7 pence

NAV

 

£200m

£212m

NAV total return with respect to the year 3,4,5

3.8%

3.5%

Total Shareholder Return with respect to the year 3,6

-6.8%

-16.3%

NAV total return since inception 3,4,5

39.3%

33.0%

Total Shareholder Return since inception 3,6

-7.4%

1.1%

Weighted average discount rate7

8.0%

7.7%

Environmental performance

Assets avoided 161,620 tonnes of CO2 and powered the equivalent of 126,916 homes

 

Assets avoided 186,348 tonnes of CO2 and powered the equivalent of 146,183 homes

 

3 These are alternative performance measures.

4 A measure of total asset value including debt held in unconsolidated subsidiaries.

5 Based on NAV at IPO of £0.98/share.

6 Total returns in sterling, including dividend reinvested.

7 This is the weighted average discount used in the valuation of underlying investments.

 

A glossary of terms can be found in the full Annual Report.

Hugh Little, Chair, Downing Renewables & Infrastructure Trust PLC, commented:

"The Board is pleased with DORE's performance during a challenging year and is greatly encouraged by the returns crystallised by the sale of the Gabrielsberget wind farm, which has enabled the Company to repay the RCF in full. This has strengthened the Company's capital availability and enables further opportunities to enhance the portfolio. Continued revenue generation from hydropower and grid infrastructure assets provided further diversification and stability of revenues, which is testament to the Company's commitment to building a resilient portfolio. We are confident that DORE is well positioned to navigate ongoing macroeconomic uncertainties, and it will use all the tools available to continue delivering sustainable returns for shareholders."

Tom Williams, Partner, Head of Energy and Infrastructure at Downing, commented:

"Revenue and portfolio optimisation remained a strong focus for DORE, as we leveraged the expertise of Downing's in-house asset management team to optimise and deliver value from our assets. We are pleased with the further diversification of the portfolio, having acquired hydro assets in new regions across the Nordics and facilitated additional revenue streams from our entry into the FCR markets. Looking ahead, we continue to see opportunities to invest and further add value to the portfolio, whilst continuing to focus on the optimisation of shareholder returns."

About DORE

 

DORE is a closed ended investment company incorporated in England and Wales. The Company aims to provide investors with an attractive and sustainable level of income, with an element of capital growth, by investing in a diversified portfolio of renewable energy and infrastructure assets in the UK, Ireland and Northern Europe.

 

The Company's strategy, which focuses on diversification by geography, technology, revenue and project stage, is designed to deliver stability of revenues and consistency of income to shareholders. For further details please visit www.doretrust.com.

 

The Company is an Article 9 fund pursuant to the EU Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulations ("SFDR"). The core sustainable Investment Objective of the Company is to accelerate the transition to net zero through its investments, compiling and operating a diversified portfolio of renewable energy and infrastructure assets to help facilitate the transition to a more sustainable future. This directly contributes to climate change mitigation.

 

DORE is a Green Economy Mark (London Stock Exchange) accredited company with an ESG framework that aims to provide investors with attractive returns while contributing to the successful transition to a net-zero carbon economy, resulting in a cleaner, greener future.

 

As at 31 December 2024, the Company had 184,622,487 ordinary shares in issue (of which 13,234,598 were held in treasury) which are listed on the FCA's closed-ended investment funds category and traded on the London Stock Exchange's Main Market.

 

DORE is managed by Downing LLP (the "Investment Manager" or "Downing").

 

About Downing

 

Downing is a responsible investment manager established in London in 1986. Downing currently manages £2.1 billion of assets under a broad range of investment mandates across our funds, investment trusts and tax-efficient products. As a certified B Corporation, Downing is focussed on creating a sustainable future, our key investment areas are renewable energy, infrastructure, property and healthcare.

 

Downing has 90 professionals dedicated to renewable energy and infrastructure and a proven track record in renewables. Since 2010, Downing has made more than 200 investments and has over £920 million of assets under management in this sector.

 

For further details please visit www.downing.co.uk.

 

This announcement is not for publication or distribution, directly or indirectly, in or into the United States of America. This announcement is not an offer of securities for sale into the United States. The securities referred to herein have not been and will not be registered under the U.S. Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and may not be offered or sold in the United States, except pursuant to an applicable exemption from registration. No public offering of securities is being made in the United States.

 

Contact details:

Downing - Investment Manager to the Company

 

+44 (0)20 3954 9908

Tom Williams

 

 


Singer Capital Markets - Joint Corporate Broker

+44 (0)20 7496 3000

 

Alaina Wong, Jalini Kalaravy (Investment Banking)

Sam Greatrex, Alan Geeves, James Waterlow, William Gumpel (Sales)

 

 

 

 

Winterflood Securities Limited - Joint Corporate Broker

+44 (0)20 3100 0000

Neil Morgan (Corporate Finance)

Darren Willis, Andrew Marshall (Sales)

 

 


Cardew Group - Public relations advisor to the Company

+44 (0)20 7930 0777

Tania Wild

Liam Kline

 

+44 (0)7425 536 903 /

+44 (0)7827 130429

DORE@cardewgroup.com

 

LEI: 2138004JHBJ7RHDYDR62

Chairman's Statement

 

On behalf of the Board, I am pleased to present the Annual Report of Downing Renewables & Infrastructure Trust PLC ("DORE") covering the year to 31 December 2024 (the "Annual Report"). Our commitment to investing in renewable energy projects and resilient infrastructure has yielded robust financial performance and substantial progress towards our long-term sustainability goals, even in a time of greater market uncertainty. DORE's portfolio diversification and strategic initiatives have positioned us well to continue delivering value to our shareholders while contributing positively to the global transition to a low-carbon economy.

 

Investment Activity

 

As noted in the Interim Report, the Investment Manager continued to prioritise the delivery of additional value, with a series of portfolio initiatives aimed at improved asset performance. In the second half of the year, further progress has been made on these initiatives, the hydropower portfolio continued to be built out through small acquisitions, and the Board was very pleased to note the successful sale of the Gabrielsberget wind farm in Sweden, at a significant uplift in value to its cost price just 2 years earlier in 2022. The Company received €36.0m (£29.8 million) from the sale proceeds and dividends during its period of ownership, crystallising, a total return of c.54%. A series of contractual and operational improvements undertaken by the Company's asset management team over this period have been the principal drivers behind this valuation uplift. The proceeds of the sale have enabled the Company to fully repay its revolving credit facility ("RCF"), and to fund further growth and re-investment across the Company's portfolio of assets in the Nordic region.

 

In November, DORE acquired three further Swedish hydropower plants and their associated storage reservoirs. The combined expected annual average production is c.7 GWh, increasing the Company's hydropower portfolio to 37 assets with a forecast annual average production of c.222 GWh. DORE has continued to prioritise the aggregation, modernisation and digitalisation of its hydropower portfolio through strategic acquisitions and active asset management.

 

Further details on the acquisitions and disposals during the year can be found in the full Annual Report.

 

Revenue Optimisation

 

Notably, the Company continues to optimise its use of water storage in its dispatchable hydropower portfolio, achieving a positive capture ratio of 110.9% for the 12 months to December 2024 (107.0% for the 12 months to December 2023).

 

To provide further stable revenues, the Company successfully translated the Icelandic Power Purchase Agreement ("PPA") from Icelandic Krona to Euro, reducing volatility and providing constant inflation linked, eight-year 100% pay-as-produce offtake payments from HS Orka, the third largest energy company in Iceland.

 

Two hydropower assets have prequalified for the frequency market, enabling entrance into an additional market which provides the opportunity for further returns to shareholders. The Company has earned additional revenues from Frequency Containment Reserve ("FCR") in the year and will look to expand its use of these markets in the future. Furthermore, our largest hydropower asset has been tested for suitability, and an application to sell Frequency Containment Reserve - for Normal Operation market ("FCR-N") was submitted to the Transmission System Operator ("TSO") for assessment during the year.

 

A contractual improvement for the grid infrastructure assets was completed in August 2024. Mersey Reactive Power Limited, a UK-based, fully operational 200 MVAr shunt reactor renegotiated its contract with the National Grid to provide additional reactive power. The project's annual revenue will increase up to c.30% for the remainder of the nine-year contract, the equivalent of £300,000 per annum.

 

Blasjon Nat AB ("Blasjon") operates as the sole Electricity Distribution System Operator ("DSO") in its concession area. Consequently, its tariffs to customers are regulated by Ei, the Swedish regulator for all Swedish DSOs. Ei has reached a final regulatory conclusion for the DSOs for Regulatory Period 4 (2024-2027). The regulatory conclusion allows Blasjon (and its industry peers) to charge end users a 4.53% real Weighted Average Cost of Capital ("WACC") over the next four-year period, the previous sector WACC was 3.4%.

 

Further details on the operational improvements during the year can be found in the Investment Manager's Report in the full Annual Report.

 

Debt Facilities

 

In the interests of capital efficiency and to enhance the potential for income returns and long-term capital growth, the Company is permitted to maintain a conservative level of gearing. As at 31 December 2024, the total Portfolio's gearing (expressed as a loan to value (LTV) ratio) was 37% (2023: 40%). The Company has access to a £40 million RCF which was undrawn, there are also two additional long-term debt facilities at asset level, a £74.3 million facility which was fully drawn and a €68.5 million facility of which €54.2 million was drawn at 31 December 2024.

 

During the year, the RCF allowed the Group the flexibility to pursue different investment opportunities. As mentioned above, the RCF was repaid in full during the year using the proceeds from the sale of Gabrielsberget. In total, the sterling value of debt was £119.1 million as at 31 December 2024 (£140.0 million at 31 December 2023). The weighted average cost of debt across the borrowings is 1.8% as at 31 December 2024.

 

Further information on these facilities can be found in the Investment Manager's Report, and the Company's borrowing policy is laid out in the full Annual Report.

 

Portfolio Performance

 

The underlying portfolio generated £22.8 million (2023: £24.7 million) operating profit during the period8, an 11.4% return (2023: 11.6%) on equity capital deployed. The 4,860 core renewable energy assets produced approximately 343 GWh of renewable electricity, enough to power 126,916 UK homes annually, with the two new grid infrastructure assets in particular performing well.

 

8Based on figures from underlying spv unaudited management accounts which are not included within this report.

 

Financial Results

 

Despite the strong return on capital deployed, during the year the NAV per ordinary share decreased marginally by 0.8% from 117.7 pence at 31 December 2023 to 116.7 pence at 31 December 2024. The reduction in NAV was largely driven by future power prices being forecast to return to more normalised levels more rapidly than anticipated at the start of the year. Including dividends paid of 5.695 pence per ordinary share during the year, the NAV total return in 2024 was 3.8% resulting from share buybacks in the year and the payment of the dividend.

 

The NAV reflects the fair market valuation of the Company's portfolio based on a discounted cash flow analysis over the life of each of the Group's assets plus the value of the Company's other assets and liabilities. The assumptions which underpin the valuation are provided by the Investment Manager and the Board has satisfied itself with the calculation methodology and underlying assumptions. Further details of the valuation changes are given in the full Annual Report.

 

The portfolio companies distributed £17.7 million to the Company by way of shareholder loan repayments and interest during the year.

 

The Company made a profit for the year to 31 December 2024 of £4.9 million, resulting in earnings per ordinary share of 2.9 pence.

 

Dividends

 

The Company paid interim dividends to shareholders of 1.45 pence per share for each of the first three quarters of 2024, and a further dividend of 1.45 pence per share was announced on 19 February 2025 in respect of the quarter to 31 December 2024. Together, these amount to the 5.80 pence per share target for the 2024 financial year, announced on 11 April 2024.

 

In cash terms, the Company and its subsidiary achieved a cash dividend cover of 1.20x against the dividends of 5.695 pence per share actually paid during the year. When amortisation of debt is added back, the dividend cover was 1.88x. Cash dividend cover has been calculated on the basis of cash actually received by the Company and its immediate subsidiary, post the payment of any debt service obligations.

 

The Company will target a dividend of 5.95 pence per share for the year to 31 December 2025, a 2.6% increase from 2024. The increased dividend is expected to be covered by cash in excess of 1.15x by the current portfolio.

 

Capital Structure

 

Share prices across the broad renewable infrastructure investment company sector remain depressed and the Company is trading at a discount to NAV. The Board is closely monitoring the Company's share price discount and is committed to buying back its own shares when deemed appropriate. While share buybacks will not necessarily prevent the discount from widening, particularly in times of market weakness or volatility, the Board believes that buybacks enhance the NAV per share for existing shareholders, provide some additional market liquidity and help to mitigate discount volatility which can damage shareholder returns.

 

The Company has run a peer group leading9 share buyback programme, which to date has returned to shareholders 7.1% of the total shares in issue. During the twelve months to 31 December 2024 the Company has bought back a total of 8,859,235 shares into treasury at a cost of £7.1 million. Since the year end, a further 1,076,289 shares have been bought back into treasury at a cost of £0.9 million. As at 25 March 2025, the Company had 184,622,487 shares in issue (including 14,310,887 shares held in treasury, which are available to be resold at a premium to NAV per ordinary share when the opportunity arises).

 

Alongside buybacks the Board has prioritised revenue optimisation initiatives. The Company has utilised small amounts of capital to invest in opportunities with large impact, increasing capital efficiency in particular in its hydropower portfolio.

 

The Board continues to pursue further opportunities to expand its investment in this strategy with the aim of increasing overall portfolio returns.

 

9In terms of proportion of capital repurchased.

 

Continuation Vote

 

In accordance with the Company's Articles of Association, an ordinary resolution must be put to Shareholders for the continuation of the Company at a general meeting to be held in December 2025, being five years after Initial Public Offering in December 2020. The Board is seeking shareholder approval to adopt the new Articles of Association (the "New Articles") to enable the Company to bring forward the continuation vote and to present it at the AGM in 2025 rather than in December. The Board believes that putting forward the continuation vote at the AGM is a logical step as it will (i) align the timing of the proposed changes to the Company's investment policy with the timing of the continuation vote and (ii) mean that the Company will not have to incur unnecessary costs of holding an additional general meeting in December 2025 to put forward the continuation resolution. There are no other changes to the Articles being proposed.

 

The Company has traded at a discount to NAV in 2024, however the directors believe that this weakness in the share price is in part as a result of macroeconomic, market and geopolitical factors that affected the whole renewable infrastructure sector. Since IPO, the Company has delivered a strong NAV total return of 39.3%, including 18.2pps of dividends. The Board is though mindful of the ongoing discount to NAV at which the Company's shares trade and will continue to consider any appropriate actions to improve the share rating. This includes DORE's share buyback programme, further asset disposals where appropriate, debt repayment and potential corporate activity.

 

The Company will continue to implement its strategy to invest in a diversified portfolio of renewable energy and infrastructure assets in the UK, Ireland and Northern Europe. The proposed amendments to the investment policy (mentioned below and to be detailed further in the Notice of AGM) will not fundamentally change the Company's investment strategy.

 

Following a consultation with shareholders representing a significant proportion of the Company's shares, where the majority expressed continued support for the Company, the Directors are recommending that Shareholders vote for the resolution for the continuation of the Company.

 

Proposed Changes to the Investment Policy

 

To allow for continued growth and focus on value creation, the Board is proposing various amendments to the Company's investment policy to allow for limited investment into Assets that are in development, to increase the Company's NAV threshold for geographic and technology limits, and to clarify the classification of certain assets. The Board and the Investment Manager confirm that the proposed investment policy changes will not result in a fundamental change to the investment strategy.

 

Further details of the proposed amendments to the investment policy will be set out in the Notice of AGM. In accordance with the UK Listing Rules, shareholder approval will be sought for those amendments via an ordinary resolution at the Company's AGM to be held in 2025.

 

Outlook

 

The Board is pleased with the acquisitions and divestment made in the year and is encouraged by the full repayment of the RCF as the additional liquidity will bolster capital availability and enable further opportunities to build the portfolio.

 

The Company has an extensive pipeline of investments, including increasing our exposure in Iceland and expanding our hydropower portfolio further into the Nordics. The Board also recognises the success of the Grid Infrastructure portfolio and the diversification and stability of revenues that it provides to the overall portfolio. The Board is committed to building a diverse and resilient portfolio to provide the greatest return to its shareholders.

 

The Company will continue to leverage the deep expertise of the Investment Manager to deliver strong operational performance while placing its sustainability goals at the centre of its operational objectives.

 

The Board is committed to building a diverse and resilient portfolio in order to deliver optimal returns to investors, and also to addressing the continued discount at which its shares continue to trade in relation to its Net Asset Value.

 

I look forward to providing shareholders with further updates on progress made toward these objectives.

 

Hugh W M Little

Chair

25 March 2025

Downing Renewables & Infrastructure Trust PLC

 

 

Financial Objectives

Objective

KPI and Definition

Relevance to Strategy

Performance

Explanation

Attractive and sustainable level of income

Dividends per share (pence)

The dividend reflects the Company's ability to deliver a low risk but growing income stream from the portfolio.

The Company has paid dividends of 4.35 pence per share in respect of the year ending 31 December 2024. The Company has declared a further 1.45 pence per share to be paid in respect of the period to 31 December 2024.

The Company successfully met the increased dividend

guidance of 5.80 pence per share for the year to 31 December 2024. The Company's annual dividend

target will increase by 2.6% for the year ended 31 December 2025 to 5.9510

pence per share.

Cash dividend cover

Reflects the Company's ability to cover its dividends from the income received from its portfolio.

1.20x

The Company, through DORE Hold Co received distributions of £17.7m from the underlying projects enabling the Company to pay fully covered dividends. £19.7 million was paid up via loan interest and principal repayments from DORE Hold Co in the year.

Capital preservation with an element of capital growth

NAV per share (pence)

The NAV per share reflects our ability to preserve capital value and provide an element of capital growth throughout the life cycle of our assets.

116.7 pence per share

116.7 pence per share as at 31 December 2024. NAV has decreased since 31 December 2023 from 117.7 pence per share after taking into account dividends paid.

Total NAV return (%)

The total NAV return measure highlights the gross return to investors including dividends paid.

3.8%

The Company's NAV has decreased due to the downward revaluation of the Company's Investment in Hold Co, however the Total NAV return % increased due to dividends received by shareholders.

Total Shareholder return since IPO

The share price movement plus reinvested dividends over a period, is a measure of a company's capital growth over the long term.

 

-7.4%

The Company's closing share price as at 31 December 2024 was 77 pence per share.

Ongoing charges ratio

Ongoing charges shows the drag on performance caused by the operational expenses incurred by the Company.

 

1.5%

Company level budgets are approved annually by the Board and actual spend is reviewed quarterly.

10The dividend and return targets stated above 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, and they should not be taken as an indication of the Company's expected future results.

A glossary of terms can be found in the full Annual Report.

Objectives and Key Performance Indicators

 

The Company sets out above its KPIs which it uses to track the performance of the Company over time against the objectives, as described in the Sustainability section in the full Annual Report. The Board is of the opinion that the KPIs detailed in the table above, alongside the environmental, social and governance objectives set out in the full Annual Report provide shareholders with sufficient information to assess how effectively the Company is meeting its objectives. The Board will continue to monitor these KPIs on an ongoing basis.

 

Portfolio Summary

 

At the year end, through its main subsidiary, DORE Holdco Limited, the Company owned a renewable energy portfolio of hydropower and solar assets, representing 159 MW of installed capacity with expected annual generation of around 323 GWh.

 

The Company also owns a grid infrastructure portfolio including a shunt reactor that regulates voltage on the UK Transmission System by absorbing 200MVAr reactive power per hour and a Swedish Electricity Distribution System Operator which delivers electricity to c.1,500 domestic and business customers.

 

The generating portfolio is diversified across 4,860 individual installations and across six different energy markets. The grid infrastructure portfolio is diversified across two geographies and technologies.

 

The Group currently has no exposure to any assets under construction.

 

Portfolio composition by valuation, as at 31 December 2024

 

Technology by GAV (%)

 

Hydro

 

48

Solar

 

44

Grid Services

 

7

Cash

 

1

 

Geographic Exposure by GAV (%)

Sweden

50

Great Britain

39

Northern Ireland

8

Iceland

2

Cash

1

 

Power Market Exposure by GAV (%)

Great Britain

33

Sweden - SE2

24

Sweden - SE3

20

Northern Ireland

9

No Exposure

7

Sweden - SE4

4

Iceland

2

Cash

1

 

Investment

Technology

Date Acquired

Location

Power Market / Subsidy

Installed capacity (MW)

Expected annual generation (GWh)

Ugsi

Hydro

Feb-21

Alvadalen, Sweden

SE3/n/a

1.8

10.0

Bathusstrommen

Hydro

Feb-21

Alvadalen, Sweden

SE3/n/a

3.5

13.7

Asteby

Hydro

Feb-21

Torsby, Sweden

SE3/n/a

0.7

2.8

Fensbol

Hydro

Feb-21

Torsby, Sweden

SE3/n/a

3.0

14.0

Robjorke

Hydro

Feb-21

Torsby, Sweden

SE3/n/a

3.3

14.9

Vals

Hydro

Feb-21

Torsby, Sweden

SE3/n/a

0.8

3.2

Torsby

Hydro

Feb-21

Torsby, Sweden

SE3/n/a

3.1

13.2

Tvarforsen

Hydro

Feb-21

Torsby, Sweden

SE2/n/a

9.5

36.9

Sutton Bridge

Solar

Mar-21

Somerset, England

UK/ROC

6.7

6.7

Andover Airfield

Solar

Mar-21

Hampshire, England

UK/ROC

4.3

4.2

Kingsland Barton

Solar

Mar-21

Devon, England

UK/ROC

6.0

5.9

Bourne Park

Solar

Mar-21

Dorset, England

UK/ROC

6.0

6.0

Laughton Levels

Solar

Mar-21

East Sussex, England

UK/ROC

8.3

8.8

Deeside

Solar

Mar-21

Flintshire, Wales

UK/FiT

3.8

3.4

Redbridge Farm

Solar

Mar-21

Dorset, England

UK/ROC

4.3

4.2

Iwood

Solar

Mar-21

Somerset, England

UK/ROC

9.6

9.3

New Rendy

Solar

Mar-21

Somerset, England

UK/ROC

4.7

4.7

Redcourt

Solar

Mar-21

Carmarthenshire, Wales

UK/ROC

3.2

3.2

Oakfield

Solar

Mar-21

Hampshire, England

UK/ROC

5.0

4.7

Kerriers

Solar

Mar-21

Cornwall, England

UK/ROC

10.0

9.7

RSPCA Llys Nini

Solar

Mar-21

Swansea, Wales

UK/ROC

0.9

0.8

Commercial portfolio

Solar

Mar-21

Various, England and Wales

UK/FiT

5.5

4.3

Commercial portfolio

Solar

Mar-21

Various, Northern Ireland

SEM/NIROC

0.7

0.5

Bombardier 

Solar

Mar-21

Belfast, N. Ireland

SEM/ROC

3.6

2.8

Residential portfolio

Solar

Mar-21

Various, N. Ireland

SEM/NIROC

13.1

10.1

Lemman

Hydro

Jan-22

Alvadalen, Sweden

SE3/n/a

0.6

2.6

Ryssa Ovre

Hydro

Jan-22

Mora, Sweden

SE3/n/a

0.7

2.6

Ryssa Nedre

Hydro

Jan-22

Mora, Sweden

SE3/n/a

0.6

2.4

Rots Ovre

Hydro

Jan-22

Alvadalen, Sweden

SE3/n/a

0.8

2.8

Rots Nedre

Hydro

Jan-22

Alvadalen, Sweden

SE3/n/a

0.3

1.4

Vallhaga

Hydro

Jan-22

Edsbyn, Sweden

SE2/n/a

2.6

12.8

Osterforsens Kraftstation

Hydro

Jan-22

Edsbyn, Sweden

SE2/n/a

1.5

11.5

Bornforsen 1

Hydro

Jan-22

Edsbyn, Sweden

SE2/n/a

0.7

2.9

Bornforsen 2

Hydro

Jan-22

Edsbyn, Sweden

SE2/n/a

1.4

9.3

Fridafors Ovre

Hydro

May-22

Fridafors, Sweden

SE4/n/a

2.3

10.0

Fridafors Nedre

Hydro

May-22

Fridafors, Sweden

SE4/n/a

2.9

7.7

Hedvigsfors

Hydro

Oct-22

Sweden

SE2/n/a

0.3

1.2

Gysinge

Hydro

Oct-22

Sweden

SE3/n/a

0.3

2.5

Brattfallet

Hydro

Oct-22

Sweden

SE3/n/a

0.5

3.7

Molnbacka

Hydro

Oct-22

Sweden

SE3/n/a

1.8

3.8

Varan Ovre

Hydro

Oct-22

Sweden

SE3/n/a

0.2

1.2

Varan Nedre

Hydro

Oct-22

Sweden

SE3/n/a

0.2

1.2

Kristinefors

Hydro

Oct-22

Sweden

SE3/n/a

0.1

0.7

Hogforsen

Hydro

Feb-23

Sweden

SE2/n/a

0.35

2.5

Gottne

Hydro

Feb-23

Sweden

SE2/n/a

0.7

5.8

AEE Renewables UK 13

Solar

Apr-23

Devon, England

UK/ROC/FiT

5.6

5.6

Gloucester Wind

Solar

Apr-23

Various, England and Wales

UK/FiT

1.1

1.2

Hewas Solar

Solar

Apr-23

Various, England and Wales

UK/FiT

2.0

1.9

Penhale Solar

Solar

Apr-23

Surrey, England

UK/FiT

0.3

0.4

Priory Farm Solar Farm

Solar

Apr-23

Suffolk, England Great Britain

UK/ROC

3.2

2.5

St Colomb Solar

Solar

Apr-23

Various, England and Scotland

UK/FiT

0.8

0.6

Blasjon Nat

Grid

Jul-23

Sweden

SE2

n/a

n/a

Mersey

Shunt reactor

Nov-23

United Kingdom

UK/n/a

n/a

n/a

Bruket

Hydro

Dec-23

Sweden

SE2/n/a

0.9

3.9

Nylandsan

Hydro

Dec-23

Sweden

SE2/n/a

0.55

1.6

Kallsjon

Hydro

Dec-23

Sweden

SE2/n/a

0.25

0.7

Tunsjon

Hydro

Dec-23

Sweden

SE2/n/a

0.25

0.6

Lagmansholm

Hydro

Dec-23

Sweden

SE3/n/a

0.5

2.4

Urdarfellvirkjun

Hydro

Dec-23

Iceland

IS/n/a

1.1

8.3

Gyttorp

Hydro

Nov-24

Sweden

SE3/n/a

0.5

1.1

Hagby

Hydro

Nov-24

Sweden

SE3/n/a

1.2

3.6

Hammarby

Hydro

Nov-24

Sweden

SE3/n/a

0.55

2.2

TOTAL AS AT 31 DECEMBER 2024:

 

159.0

323.2

 

Investment Manager's Report

 

Introduction

 

We are delighted with the progress made in the portfolio during the year. The Company continued to focus on revenue optimisation, renegotiating the shunt reactor contract with National Grid by £300,000 per year and achieving a capture ratio of 110.9% for the hydropower portfolio in 2024, as compared to 104.5% in 2023. The Company also disposed of Gabrielsberget wind farm achieving returns of 54% and facilitating the full repayment of the RCF. During the year, the Company also made further investments in the hydropower portfolio. Active asset management and portfolio enhancement were also a key focus, with optimisation initiatives diversifying fixed revenue streams and enhancing shareholder returns.

 

Acquisitions and Capital Deployment

 

Sale of Gabrielsberget

 

The Company completed the sale of its entire interest in Gabrielsberget wind farm in Sweden ("Gabrielsberget") to Angel Wind, a subsidiary of Bagnall Energy, another fund managed by the Investment Manager. Completion of the sale crystallises a total return of 54% over DORE's investment period in Gabrielsberget.

 

The Company purchased Gabrielsberget in January 2022 for a total consideration of £19.8m and has received £29.8m from the sale proceeds and dividends during its period of ownership.

 

A series of contractual and operational improvements undertaken by the Company's asset management team over this period have been the principal drivers behind this valuation uplift.

 

The proceeds of the sale enabled the Company to fully repay its RCF, to fund further growth and re-investment across the Company's portfolio of assets in the Nordic region and to fund the Company's peer group leading share buyback programme11, which to date has returned to shareholders 7.1% of the total shares in issue at the start of the programme.

 

Hydropower - Downing Hydro AB ("DHAB")

 

In November, the Company acquired three Swedish hydropower plants and their associated storage reservoirs for c.£6 million. The combined expected annual average production is c.7 GWh, with a potential increase of 0.5 GWh after further upgrades have taken place.

 

All three hydro plants, Hagby, Gyttorp and Hammarby, are located on the Norasjon River in the Orebro County in the SE3 price region in Sweden. Two of the plants - Gyttorp and Hagby - were built in 1946 and 1952 respectively and underwent extensive refurbishment in 2007. Hammarby was built in 1982 and recently underwent a significant upgrade.

 

The transaction offers a strategic opportunity to extend the current portfolio into a new geographical area of SE3. The three hydropower plants benefit from storage and consequently allow the portfolio to benefit from an attractive revenue profile, with a significant part of its production during the winter months.

 

The Company's hydropower portfolio now comprises of 37 assets with a forecast annual average production of c.222 GWh and reservoir capacity of 248.3Mm3.

 

11Based on percentage of shares repurchased of total ordinary shares in issue.

 

Portfolio Enhancement

 

Improved Contract and Revenue for Mersey Reactive Power

 

In August, Mersey Reactive Power Limited, a UK-based, fully operational 200 MVAr shunt reactor which the Company acquired in June 2023 renegotiated its contract with the National Grid Electricity System Operator ("NGESO") to provide additional reactive power.

 

The shunt reactor is now available to be called upon by the network operator for unlimited use throughout the year, which will allow DORE to benefit from increased revenues under the availability-based Pathfinder Contract, part of National Grid's Stability Pathfinder Initiative. The Company expects the shunt reactor to receive an increase in annual revenue of up to c.30%, which is the equivalent of c.£300,000 per annum, for the remainder of the nine-year contract, increasing the valuation by 5.8%.

 

Blasjon

 

Blasjon, a Swedish Electricity Distribution System Operator acquired by DORE in July 2023, has reached a final regulatory conclusion with Ei, the Swedish regulator for the electricity distribution sector. Blasjon and its industry peers are allowed to charge end users 4.53% of its real Weighted Average Cost of Capital (WACC) over the next four-year regulatory period, the previous real sector WACC was 3.4%.

 

The transmission and distribution of electricity in Sweden is considered a natural monopoly, which means its tariffs and charges to customers are subject to regulation. Ei implements revenue caps for each distribution system operator for a regulatory period of four years and has concluded the regulatory decision for Regulatory Period 4 (RP4, 2024-2027) for Blasjon. As part of the regulatory decision, Blasjon will be making investments during the period totalling c.SEK 33.2 million (c.£2.5 million). The real WACC which Blasjon is allowed to apply to its charges is set at 4.5%. As a comparison, Ei concluded a real sector WACC of 3.4% for RP3 (2020 - 2023, restated from 2.3% by Ei, following appeal by the industry).

 

Blasjon also announced the appointment of Jan Delin as its new Chief Executive Officer ("CEO") following the retirement of Ingemar Persson after 27 years in the role. Mr. Delin, who was previously CEO of regional Swedish utility Edsbyn Elverk for nine years, has been a Board member of Blasjon for four years.

 

Creating Long-Term Attractive Returns through Strategic Digitalisation

 

The asset management team is dedicated to generating long-term attractive returns by examining the hydropower portfolio and executing multiple projects simultaneously as part of a comprehensive digitalisation strategy.

 

In the year, the Asset Manager has identified multiple positive business cases, including the refurbishment of spill gates and local equipment to enable more precise, flexible, and remotely controlled adjustments. These initiatives, such as the refurbishment of five spill gates in reservoirs upstream of flexible hydro power assets, have progressed. Additionally, investments in to providing stations with Programme Logic Controllers enable autopilot steering based on production values rather than surface level steering, allowing us to improve our price-driven production strategy. The Asset Manager has also centralised its dispatch and production planning responsibilities, consolidating the dispatch responsibility for all Swedish assets into one unified team.

 

The Asset Manager has worked on multiple ongoing digital projects during the second half of the year. Local hardware has been installed at nearly all Swedish station, connected to a Supervisory control and data acquisition ("SCADA") system. The system allows us to monitor full operations, from reservoir surfaces and production plans to operational alarms, minimising downtime and unnecessary losses. The roll out to all hydropower stations in Sweden is expected to be completed during 1H 2025, including the stations acquired in November 2024.

 

In the Interim Report, we laid out a case study on how Hydrogrid is being used to enhance DHAB's dispatch strategy. Hydrogrid has now been integrated with our SCADA system, providing real-time planning and dispatch strategies for our hydro plants. It uses real-time generation data, hydrological modelling, inflow forecasts, and power market data to produce optimal production plans for each asset, both for short-term opportunities and seasonal planning. The production plan is regularly updated based on real-time conditions, such as weather forecasts and power prices, while ensuring regulatory compliance.

 

The improvements made in the year along with favourable weather conditions allowed the Company to achieve a capture price ratio of 110.9%.

 

Ugsi - Case Study

 

This case study aims to highlight some significant improvements that are possible with small-scale hydropower through simple and relatively inexpensive investments. During 2024, Downing Hydro AB, a Swedish subsidiary of DORE has made several such investments, and a comparison between electricity production in January 2024 and January 2025 can illustrate the improvement. Historically, the flexibility of small-scale hydropower generally lags behind large-scale hydropower, but improvements in IT and technology make it viable to also use smaller hydropower plants to regulate electricity production and support the grid when needed. With increased volatility in the energy market due to higher penetration of intermittent and renewable energy production, flexible electricity production has become particularly advantageous, both from a commercial and a security of supply perspective.

 

Ugsi was one of DORE's first hydropower investments, purchased in 2021. Figure 1 in the full Annual Report shows the production profile during January 2024 together with the spot price, showing slow reactions to peaks in power prices. If the Asset Manager wished to change the power output, it was necessary to send for personnel to site to manually make this change. Figure 1 in the full Annual Report shows the price achieved mirroring the spot price with a 98.5% capture price, the economic result was relatively poor considering the full potential of the power plant.

 

To enable remote control with autopilot, the local programmable logic controller needed to be replaced. This was completed in the autumn of 2024, so by January 2025, there was increased flexibility, and a capture price of 134.4% was achieved. As can be seen in Figure 2 in the full Annual Report, there is now a high correlation between the spot price and the production of the hydropower plant, with output at its highest when the spot price is high. By reducing production when prices are low, water is stored in reservoirs to further take advantage of energy production when prices are high.

 

Market Development and Opportunities in the Frequency Regulation Markets

 

The Investment Manager continues to focus on deploying capital into areas of the portfolio where the potential return on capital is the greatest, including buying back its own shares.

 

Accordingly, the Investment Manager is pursuing opportunities to gain access to the historically attractive Swedish Frequency Containment Reserve ("FCR") market by building out the hydropower plants into power generation stations through the installation of add-on equipment and software. The Investment Manager has also been identifying sites for the installation of battery energy storage systems ("BESS"), often located on land owned by the hydropower portfolio, which will enable DORE to access the Fast Frequency Reserve ("FFR") markets, thus creating additional revenue streams and increasing productivity of the site.

 

The combination of an increasingly centralised operation system across the hydropower portfolio together with software and hardware upgrades has enabled the Asset Manager to regulate its power production to such an extent that it can bid to participate in the FCR markets. The storage capability of hydropower plants acts in a similar but slower manner to that of a battery, allowing hydropower production to be adjusted relatively quickly (up or down) to assist in stabilising the grid.

 

In 2024, the Investment Manager prequalified two hydro-power assets for the frequency market, tapping into additional market channels for higher returns on our flexibility. In the period where the two hydro power assets were qualified for the frequency market, FCR made up c.6% of their revenues. Following this success, DORE's largest hydropower asset has been tested, and an application to sell FCR-N was submitted to the TSO for assessment in Q4 2024.

 

Portfolio Performance

 

For the year to 31 December 2024, the 4,860 core renewable energy assets produced 343 GWh of renewable electricity, enough to power 126,916 UK homes annually. From a financial perspective the portfolio generated an operating profit of £22.8 million, which was slightly below expectations. This was largely due to fluctuating weather patterns in the Nordic regions which hindered generation of the wind and hydropower portfolios and caused lower than expected power prices across these portfolios. The Company is seeking to mitigate these fluctuations through its ancillary services projects.

 

Generation across the solar portfolio was 90GWh in 2024. This was lower than expected, due to lower than average irradiation levels for the year and also due to unexpected Distribution Network Operator ("DNO") outages at a small number of sites. As previously reported the dynamic spare parts strategy implemented in 2022 continues to support the solar portfolio in mitigating the risk of downtime through prolonged equipment lead times. Inverter issues were experienced at a small number of sites but the impact of these was mitigated by the use of available spare parts. A number of the removed inverters are now being repaired to be re-used as part of the wider portfolio spare parts strategy. Operating profit across the solar portfolio was £15.1 million, which was in line with expectations, with the impact of the lower than expected generation being offset by efficient cost control resulting in lower than predicted operating costs.

 

The hydropower portfolio generated 207 GWh in the year. This was slightly lower than expected, partly due to lower than expected availability of the sites due to a particularly harsh winter causing icing disturbances in some of Sweden's rivers, followed by strong spring floods which carried debris and clogged a number of intake channels requiring downtime for clearance. Operating profit across the hydropower portfolio was £5.4 million. This was below expectations and caused by power prices being lower than expected due to the spot pricing experienced during times of high hydropower generation. This was partially offset by dispatch control and hedging strategies which mitigate these fluctuations by securing fixed prices. Operating costs were higher than expected across the hydropower portfolio due to a strategic shift from a fixed to variable maintenance cost model which caused a temporary rise in maintenance costs due to incidents occurring later in the year. However, we expect the long-term benefits of the new maintenance cost model to result in more efficient and sustainable operations.

 

The grid infrastructure assets had an operating profit of £2.0 million, which significantly exceeded expectations. The UK grid stability asset, Mersey, performed particularly well during the year, driven by strong availability which enabled the asset to benefit from its fixed revenue contract to provide a reactive power stabilisation service to the National Grid. With proactive asset management this contract was improved during the year to offer more availability to provide reactive power services to the National Grid. The Swedish electricity distribution grid Blasjon had an operating profit of £625k which was in line with expectations.

 

The disposal of Gabrielsberget meant the period of economic interest ran from 1 January 2024 to 30 June 2024, the wind portfolio generated 46GWh of renewable electricity and maintained good technical availability. This generation figure was 15.1% lower than expected, due to a combination of lower energy generation and lower than expected power prices.

 

Asset Operating Profit vs Budget (£)


Actual Operating Profit

Expected Operating Profit

Electrical Grid

1,965,992

1,587,763

Hydro

5,396,191

6,189,468

Solar

15,148,200

15,194,032

Wind

430,352

529,262

 

 

Asset Generation vs Budget (MWh)


Actual Production

Expected Production

Hydro

207,072

216,420

Solar

90,012

100,549

Wind

45,638

53,734

 

 


2024


2023



Hydro

Wind (Jan - June)

Solar

Grid/Grid Stability

Total

Hydro

Wind

Solar

Grid/Grid Stability

Total

GWh generated

207.1

45.6

90.0

N/A

342.7

194.2

105.8

94.7

N/A

394.7

Average price per MWh

€39.87

€29.38

£224.33

N/A

£57.9

€55.98

€30.60

£216.0

N/A

£49.0

Revenues (£m)

9.1

1.4

20.8

2.9

34.2

9.5

3.3

21.5

2.0

36.3

Operating profit (£m)

5.4

0.4

15.1

2.0

22.7

5.8

1.0

16.9

1.0

24.7

 

 

Portfolio and Asset Management

 

Downing has invested significantly in an in-house asset management team capable of providing a full-scope service to a wide range of generation, grid and storage technologies. Established in 2019, the team totals over 40 and includes expertise across power markets, engineering, data analytics, finance and commercial management.

 

Ancillary Services Projects

 

In response to opportunities identified in the ancillary market, the Asset Manager has been pursuing several ongoing ancillary service projects during the period. These services not only take advantage of additional revenue streams when registered assets are requested to power up/down but also support the relevant local grid with supply and demand challenges.

 

The digitalisation of the hydropower portfolio has continued to progress, which has supported the optimisation of dispatching, including participation in the FCR markets. To successfully participate in the provision of FCR services, the hydropower portfolio must meet stringent technical demands and as a result the Asset Manager has been iteratively and comprehensively evaluating each site's suitability for FCR-N (for normal grid disturbances) and FCR-D (for significant grid disturbances) to establish refurbishment plans on a site-by-site basis. During the period, two hydropower sites successfully met the requirements for participation in these markets: 0.7MW site Gottne is now active in the FCR-N and FCR-D markets, and 0.5MW site Lagmansholm is now active in the FCR-D market.

 

Simultaneously, Downing has been assessing and pursuing opportunities to install Battery Energy Storage System ("BESS") at some of the Company's hydropower sites. Installing BESS will enable DORE to participate in further frequency regulation markets such as Fast Frequency Reserve ("FFR"), which works similarly to FCR in that it actively assists on the management of grid imbalances. Grid connection has been secured for three sites with plans in development for them to operate both in the FFR market and the FCR market independently of hydropower production.

 

Optimisation of Portfolio Service

 

The Asset Manager has continued to develop and implement performance and proprietary data optimisation and power pricing strategies, enhancing DORE's data-driven approach to asset management and unveiling further efficiencies.

 

Progress has been made to enable a price-driven production strategy within the hydropower portfolio, with more precise, flexible, and remotely controlled adjustments via modernised water spill gates and localised equipment. During 2024 the refurbishment of five spill gates in reservoirs upstream of our flexible hydropower assets was completed. In addition, investment was made to enable autopilot steering based on production values rather than surface level steering. These flexibility advancements are now supported by a centralised dispatch and production planning strategy which drives delivery of forecasting and optimisation of production power.

 

The Asset Manager has reconceptualised the hydropower Operations & Maintenance ("O&M") services by increasing in-house coordination of O&M services, enabling it to work closely with a more agile network of local technicians. The ambition is to maintain high quality asset management with a more cost-effective model in a growing portfolio. Improvements can already be seen in quality management and cost efficiency, for example the Asset Manager has taken over the predetermined preventative maintenance program and this is now streamlined and harmonized across the portfolio, capturing some cost optimisation.

 

The Asset Manager continues to progress several optimisation projects to replace and improve technical equipment within the UK ground-mounted solar portfolio. This includes further enhancement of the dynamic spare parts stock which aims to reduce downtime and maintain asset performance given prolonged equipment lead times in the market. In the winter of 2024, one of DORE's spare transformers was used to replace an old transformer which had failed, accounting for approximately 1,000 MWh of renewable generation, or over £150,000 of revenue. Without DORE's proactive spare parts strategy, a new transformer would have had to have been purchased at the time of failure with a lead time of 9 months. The inverter and panel spare parts also continue to be used, reducing downtime across the portfolio.

 

The Asset Manager has continued to pursue a number of warranty claims against solar panel manufacturers. These claims are being carried out preventatively to address systematic defects before they cause any potential downtime. Across three different sites the Asset Manager collected the relevant data using a new high-resolution drone in combination with image recognition software to photograph and categorise panels. This method has successfully allowed for the collection and sorting of high-resolution photographs of 80,488 panels across three sites at a significantly reduced cost. Feedback has been received from all three sites where 36,205 panels were identified by the panel manufacturer to be suffering from a systematic batch defect, that could impact upon future generation. Replacement panels will be provided free of charge and the Asset Manager will continue its program for replacing these throughout 2025. All disused panels will be returned to the manufacturer for recycling.

 

Health and Safety

 

The health and safety of contractors and the public is a fundamental and ongoing focus in asset management processes. Throughout the period, a range of workstreams were carried out by the Asset Manager in line with the Company's approach to Health and Safety management.

 

In order to ensure a consistent approach to health and safety management, the Asset Manager has engaged a third-party expert to provide health and safety support to assess systems in place and revise existing processes where applicable. To further reinforce a positive health and safety culture, the Asset Manager rolled out interactive health and safety training for Directors of the Company's portfolio of assets. Implementation of improved policies and processes will be rolled out during 2025.

 

A rolling programme of health and safety audits continues across the portfolio. These audits are based on a two-tier approach, where risks and procedures are audited at the site level and also at the asset operator level. DORE has a process of continuous assessment and feedback of site and operator practices, ensuring effective management systems are in place and adhered to.

 

Finally, IT systems are used to thoroughly track all incidents. These systems not only act as tools for the enabling of performance measurement, and trend analysis and learning, but also ensure the effective communication, escalation, and management of incidents. This IT system also monitors environmental incidents and near misses. This ensures environmental risk is monitored and managed on a site basis as well as on a portfolio level. This is developed further in the full Annual Report.

 

Financing and Capital Structure

 

The Company, through its subsidiary DORE Holdco Limited, adopts a prudent approach to leverage. Its objective is that each asset will be financed appropriately for the nature of its underlying cashflows. Long-term debt may be used where appropriate at the SPV level to facilitate acquisitions, refinancing, capital expenditure or construction of assets.

 

Total long-term structural debt will not exceed 50% of the prevailing Gross Asset Value. At 31 December 2024, including project level financing, the Company and its subsidiaries' leverage stood at 37%.

 

In addition, the Company and/or its subsidiaries may also make use of short-term debt, such as a revolving credit facility, to assist with the acquisition of suitable opportunities as and when they become available.

 

Revolving Credit Facility

 

The Group has entered into a loan agreement through its main subsidiary DORE Hold Co Limited for a £40 million RCF with Santander UK plc. The RCF is available until December 2025, with the possibility to be extended for a further year. As at 31 December 2024, the facility was undrawn.

 

On 24 June 2024, the Company converted its total drawings under the RCF of £18.6 million into a EUR denominated loan of €22.0 million. This allowed the Company to take advantage of lower interest rates in Europe and provided a natural hedge for the proceeds of the Gabrielsberget wind farm sale. The RCF was drawn on two occasions during the year, £5 million on 21 August 2024 and £3 million on 13 December 2024. The total drawn amounts of €22.0 million and £8 million were fully repaid on 23 December 2024, utilising the proceeds of the Gabrielsberget wind farm sale.

 

The terms of the RCF now includes a 'Green Projects' initiative, operating under the Loan Market Association's (LMA) Green Loan Principles, a framework of market standards and guidelines that provides a consistent methodology for use across the green loan market.

 

Under the 'Green Projects' criteria, the RCF can only be used in connection with assets that present environmental benefits and appropriate green credentials. The RCF is available to be drawn for the funding of investments and working capital requirements. Additional monitoring and reporting obligations on the environmental benefits delivered by such assets will be required, which comfortably aligns with DORE's current investment strategy as an Article 9 fund.

 

The RCF has the additional benefit of being able to be drawn in both GBP and EUR (with the ability to also be able to make use of funds in other currencies) and is priced at the Sterling Overnight Index Average ("SONIA") or Euro Interbank Offered Rate ("EURIBOR") plus 2.25% per annum.

 

Refinancing of Hydropower Assets

 

The Group initially acquired DHAB, its Swedish hydropower portfolio, on an unlevered basis in February 2021, shortly after the Company's IPO. Given the strong transaction pipeline and ongoing capital expenditure requirements, DHAB entered into a seven-year bullet repayment €43.5 million debt facility with SEB, a leading corporate bank in the Nordics.

 

In December 2023, the SEB facility was increased from €43.5 million to €68.5 million to fund future capital expenditure requirements and further acquisitions. The total all-in cost of the drawn debt for 2025 is c.3.3%, benefitting from swaps until end of 2033.

 

As of 31 December 2024, DHAB has drawn down €54.2 million under the facility, predominately as a source of funding for acquiring further hydropower plants in Sweden during 2024 but also to fund some of the capital expenditure in DHAB.

 

UK Solar Portfolio

 

Long term amortising debt (September 2034 maturity) is in place for the UK solar portfolio and, as at 31 December 2024, comprised outstanding principal amounts of £64.7 million lent by Aviva and £9.6 million lent by institutional investors managed by Vantage Infrastructure.

 

Approximately 12% of this debt is nominal with a fixed interest rate of 3.37%. The interest rate is fixed in real terms on the remaining balance at 0.5%. The debt service of this larger debt tranche is inflation-adjusted, with indexation tracking UK RPI.

 

A summary of the debt across the portfolio can be found in the table below:

 


                                       2024

2023

Hydro

Solar

Grid

infra-structure

Working capital

Total

Hydro

Wind

Solar

Grid infra-structure

Working capital

Total

Equity value (£'m)

109.6

64.9

21.5

3.9

199.9

111.5

27.2

68.1

19.6

4.3

230.7

Debt (£'m)

44.8

74.3

0.0

0.0

119.1

42.8

0.0

78.7

0.0

0.0

121.5

GAV (£'m)

154.4

139.2

21.5

3.9

319.0

154.3

27.2

146.8

19.6

4.3

352.2

 

Foreign Exchange

 

The Group's generating assets in Sweden earn revenues in EUR and incur some operational cost in SEK. Blasjon revenues and costs are in SEK. From 1 March 2024, Urdafellsvirkjun, our Icelandic asset, removed revenue exposure in ISK and replaced with EUR. Assets in the UK operate entirely in sterling.

 

The Group, together with its foreign exchange advisor, has developed and implemented its foreign exchange risk management policy in line with the Prospectus. The policy targets hedging the short to medium-term distributions (up to five years) from the portfolio of assets (that are not denominated in GBP) on a "linear reducing basis", whereby a high proportion of expected distributions in year one are hedged and the proportion of expected distributions that are hedged reduces in a linear fashion over the following four years. This is a rolling programme and each year further hedges are expected to be put in place to maintain the profile.

 

In total, 55% of the Group's EUR dividend receipts from SPVs out to March 2028 were hedged as at the reporting date. In addition, 71% of the Group's EUR denominated NAV is hedged.

 

Dividend hedges as a percentage of expected EUR distributions


Percentage of EUR denominated dividend receipts

12 months

65%

24 months

80%

36 months

25%

 

 

Power markets and exposure

 

Through its portfolio companies, the Group adopts a medium to long-term power price hedging policy for its generation assets, providing an extra degree of certainty over a portion of the Company's cash flows. The fixed price generation position for the portfolio as of 31 December 2024 is set out in the full Annual Report, showing the benefits of the combination of subsidy and fixed income from power sales. The hedging positions are continuously reviewed to ensure an appropriate position is maintained and new hedges are taken out as appropriate. During the year, the portfolio removed its exposure to the variable merchant revenue of Swedish Wind with the sale of Gabriel South. This helped bring the total portfolio fixed inflation linked revenues up from 37% to 42% for the period 2025-2032.

 

Over the course of 2024, power prices across the UK and Europe reverted to those seen before the Russian invasion of Ukraine. With sanctions on Russian exports, the gas market saw a higher demand in Asia and Europe for LNG. This led to increases in power prices during maintenance of terminals and during weather events that affected shipping routes. The market was also highly sensitive to political news throughout the year, with any suggestion of further unrest causing mini rallies to the gas and power price.

 

Nordic power market

 

As is common in Nordic markets, electricity and gas prices were dominated by seasonality and weather events during the course of 2024. The start of 2024 was unseasonably cold in the Nordics, resulting in the highest demand in four years. This caused an uplift to the forward market, however as weather became milder in northern Europe during February and March, the market subsequently settled. Spring-time saw strong winds and high precipitation, bringing spot prices down and a subsequent delayed spring flood which brought prices up. The Nordic summer vacation brought lowered demand and prices throughout July. Heading into winter, the market saw a rally due to calm and cold weather, with prices closing at their highest point since January's cold snap. There were some concerns surrounding gas supply into November as a cold snap and low renewable generation caused increases in future markets. Ultimately, forward prices ended the year lower than the start of 2024, due to a combination of settling gas prices and reports of the highest hydrological balance seen in the Nordics in three years.

UK power market

Weather and Liquified Natural Gas ("LNG") supply dominated the evolution of forward power prices in the UK throughout the year. A cold snap early in the year pushed prices up, followed by lower demand, strong renewable generation and increasing LNG imports bringing prices down. Fluctuating wind generation had a strong influence on spot prices and news of conflict in the Middle East impacted future markets. During spring, power prices trended upwards due to intense Asian LNG demand along with news of further Russian attacks on Ukraine and political instability due to several elections. Later in the year saw relatively stable prices, with some fluctuations in the spot price due to high levels of renewable generation. Heading into winter, forward prices were variable due to political news and nuclear outages, and fears that Gazprom would cut gas supplies into Europe. These fears subdued into December and downside was seen in the market as gas supplies in the UK and Europe were reported to be high and weather reports suggested no cold snaps in sight. The latter half of December saw increasing prices due to rallies in the gas market with some price periods rising to their highest in 14 months as low wind across the UK and Europe increased gas prices.

Dividends

 

The Company achieved a cash dividend cover of 1.20x post debt service and 1.88x before debt service for dividends of 5.695 pence per share paid during the year. Cash dividend cover has been calculated on a cash basis of income received by the Company and its immediate subsidiary.

 

The target dividend for the year from 1 January 2025 has been increased by 2.6% to 2.9512 pence per ordinary share. On a three year average basis, future dividend cover is expected to exceed 1.15x.

 

The Board has resolved to pay the Company's fourth interim dividend of the year of 1.45 pence per share, equivalent to £2.5 million, in respect of the three months to 31 December 2024. This will bring total dividends paid in respect of the financial year to 5.80 pence per share, which is in line with the Company's dividend guidance. The fourth interim dividend is not reflected in the accounts to 31 December 2024.

 

The Company has chosen to designate part of each interim dividend as an interest distribution for UK tax purposes. Shareholders in receipt of such a dividend will be treated for UK tax purposes as though they have received a payment of interest in respect of the interest distribution element of this dividend. This will result in a reduction in the corporation tax payable by the Company.

 

Dividends in respect of the financial year to 31 December 2024 are as follows:

For the Period Ended

 Dividend Paid

No. of Shares

Total Dividend (pence per share)

Interest Element (pence per share)

Dividend Element (pence per share)

March 2024

June 2024

177,092,226

1.45

1.0875

0.3625

June 2024

September 2024

174,426,751

1.45

1.0875

0.3625

September 2024

December 2024

171,867,888

1.45

1.16

0.2900

December 2024

March 2025

171,387,889

1.45

1.2325

0.2175

 

The Company intends to continue to pay dividends on a quarterly basis, with dividends typically declared in respect of the quarterly periods ending March, June, September and December. Payment of the relevant dividend declared is expected be made within three months of the relevant quarter end.

 

12The dividend and return targets stated above 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 and they should not be taken as an indication of the Company's expected future results.

 

Net Asset Value and Portfolio Valuation

 

The Company's NAV decreased by 5.7% during the year from £212.1 million to £199.9 million. The NAV movement comprised a positive contribution of £10.2 million from valuation gains, offset by dividends and share buybacks of £17.1 million combined, and management and other costs of £5.2 million.

 

At a per share level, the effect of the share buyback was to increase the NAV per share by 1.8 pence, partially offsetting the overall NAV per share decrease of 0.8% from 117.7 pence per share to 116.7 pence per share as at 31 December 2024.

 

The bridge below shows the movement in NAV during the period, with each step explained further below.

 

NAV Movement Bridge (£)

 

Opening NAV (1-Jan-24)

212.1m

117.6p

Performance

10.3m

5.7p

Power Curve

-3.2m

-1.8p

Inflation

-0.5m

-0.3p

FX

1.1m

0.6p

Acquisition

0.5m

0.3p

Other

2.0m

1.1p

Dividend

-10.0m

-5.6p

Share Buybacks

-7.1m

1.8p

Management Fee

-2.0m

-1.1p

Other Costs

-3.2m

-1.8p

Closing Nav (31-Dec-24)

199.9m

116.7p

 

Opening

Represents the NAV at 31 December 2023.

 

Performance13

Represents the difference between the expected performance, and actual performance of the portfolio companies throughout the year.

 

Power Prices13

The Company uses long-term, forward-looking power price forecasts from third party consultants for the purposes of asset valuations. In the UK an equal blend is taken from the most recent central case forecasts from two leading consultants, whilst in Sweden an equal blend is taken from the most recent central case forecasts from three leading consultants. This is then blended with actual pricing for forward market trades for the next four years in Sweden and the next three years in the UK enabling a more holistic view of the power market to be included in the valuation. Where fixed price arrangements are in place, the financial model will reflect this price for the relevant time frame. The impact of our short-term power hedging strategy is also included in this step.

 

The consultant power price forecasts that are used in the valuations are set out in the full Annual Report, alongside a comparison against the last reporting period.

 

Inflation13

2025 inflation forecasts were revised during the period reflecting the increasing rate of inflation and in line with a consensus of over 50 forecasting bodies.

 

The Group is now using a near-term (calendar year 2025) RPI inflation forecast of 3.30% for the purposes of UK asset valuations, falling to a medium-term inflation forecast of 3.00% from 2026. From 2030 onwards, this forecast reduces to 2.25% in line with the RPI reform announced by the UK Government.

 

A near-term inflation (calendar year 2025) forecast of 1.9% is applied to euro denominated revenues, whereas SEK denominated costs are inflated by 2.0%. For both currencies, the forecast in the medium term (2026 onwards) to long term remains at 2.0%, in line with the long term Swedish central bank's target inflation rate.

 

Models are updated quarterly to reflect historic inflation.

 

FX13

The impact of foreign exchange movements on underlying investment valuations. The impact of the foreign exchange hedging activity is included in this movement.

 

Cashflows from assets that are generated in a non-sterling currency are converted in each period they are earned using the actual hedges in place, with the residual amounts converted at the relevant exchange rate.

 

The relevant exchange rate is taken from a forward curve provided by the Company's foreign exchange advisors for four years, at which point the exchange rate is held constant due to the impracticalities of hedging currency further into the future.

 

Other items reflect changes to the underlying valuations as a result of changes to long-term capital expenditure assumptions and long-term debt pricing, along with other minor changes including increases relating to improved spot rates and impact from increasing the size of the facility.

 

Acquisitions13

The difference between the original cost of an investment and the revaluation of that investment throughout the year. 

 

Dividends

Distributions paid by the Company in the period.

 

Share buybacks

This is the cost of repurchasing shares in the market.

 

Management Fee

Fees charged to the Company by the Investment Manager.

 

Other costs and charges

Charges incurred by the Company, and its immediate subsidiary DORE Hold Co Limited, in its normal operations. No transaction costs are included. Includes cost of borrowing related to the RCF.

 

13 This is a component of the Fair Value of Investment.

 

Asset Life

Where the land is owned by an external landlord, which is the case for the UK solar and Icelandic Hydro, asset operations have been modelled to the earlier of the expiry of the planning or permit, and the lease agreement. As well as these factors, life assumptions are also capped at the useful economic life of the specific equipment installed on site.

An average useful economic life of 25 years is used for the UK solar portfolio. It is noted that over the last few years the market has started to assign economic value to years 25-40 for solar assets, where lease and planning arrangements allow. DORE has and will continue to explore opportunities with local councils and landlords to extend existing planning permissions and lease agreements. In several cases this has been successful and extensions to planning permission have been granted.

Where the land is owned with the asset, which is the case for the Swedish hydro assets, there are no constraints in terms of lease agreements that need to be considered in the valuation. Also, due to the nature of hydro as an asset class, the assets have a very long life assuming an appropriate level of capex to maintain the equipment and dams etc.

Portfolio Valuation Sensitivities

 

The NAV reflects the fair market valuation of the Company's portfolio based on a discounted cash flow analysis over the life of each of the Group's assets plus the cash balances of the Company and its holding Company and other cash and working capital balances in the Group.

 

The portfolio valuation is the largest component of the NAV, and the key sensitivities to this valuation are considered to be the discount rate and the principal assumptions used in respect of future revenues and costs.

 

A broad range of assumptions are used in the Company's valuation models. These assumptions are based on long-term forecasts and are generally not affected by short-term fluctuations in inputs, whether economic or technical.

 

The Investment Manager exercises its judgement and uses its experience in assessing the expected future cash flows from each investment.

 

The impact of changes in the key drivers of the valuation are set out below.

 

Discount Rate

The weighted average discount rate of the portfolio at 31 December 2024 was 8.0% (2023: 7.7%).

 

The Investment Manager considers a variance of plus or minus 1.0% is to be a reasonable range of alternative assumptions for discount rates.

 

Energy Yield / Availability

For the solar assets, our underlying assumption set assumes the so called P50 level of electricity output based on reports by technical advisors. The P50 output is the estimated annual amount of electricity generation that has a 50% probability of being exceeded and a 50% probability of being underachieved.

For hydropower assets, the expected annual average production is applied to the valuation, similar to the P50 assumption applied to solar assets. Given the long operational record of the hydropower assets, the annual production forecast is derived from historic datasets and validated by technical advisors.

Grid infrastructure assets do not generate energy. For Mersey, a shunt reactor, availability is used as a comparable sensitivity. Blasjon is not dependent on availability, as the regulator sets the total revenue cap and therefore its result does not vary in this sensitivity.

The Energy Yield sensitivities uses a variance of plus or minus 5% applied to the generation.

Price

The power price sensitivity assumes a 10% increase or decrease in power prices relative to the base case for each year of the asset life.

While power markets can experience volatility in excess of plus or minus 10% on a short-term basis, the sensitivity is intended to provide insight into the effect on the NAV of persistently higher or lower power prices over the whole life of the portfolio, which is a more severe downside scenario.

Grid infrastructure assets do not generate energy and are therefore not reliant on power prices. Mersey is reliant on a contract with National Grid which is currently in place until 2032. After this agreement expires the price is unknown; pricing after 2032 has been sensitised relative to the base case. Blasjon is reliant on the WACC assumption which is set by the regulator and drives the regulatory cap. The WACC assumption can be used as a comparable sensitivity for pricing.

Inflation

The Company's inflation assumptions are set out above. A long-term inflation sensitivity of plus and minus 1.0% is presented below.

 

Foreign Exchange

The Company's foreign exchange policy is set out above. A sensitivity of plus and minus 10% is applied to any non-hedged cashflows derived from non-sterling assets.  The Company will also try to ensure sufficient near-term distributions from any non-sterling investments are hedged.

NAV Movement (PPS)


Negative directional change to assumption

Positive directional change to assumption

FX (+/-10%)

-3.08

5.87

Inflation (+/-1%)

-7.93

8.76

Power Prices (+/-10%)

-10.08

10.29

Generation (+/-5%)

-9.28

9.15

Discount rate (+/-1%)

13.43

-11.28

 

 

Non-Statutory Accounts

The financial information set out below does not constitute the Company's statutory accounts for the year ended 31 December 2024 but is derived from those accounts. Statutory accounts for the year ended 31 December 2024 will be delivered to the Registrar of Companies in due course. The Auditor has reported on those accounts; their report was (i) unqualified, (ii) did not include a reference to any matters to which the Auditor drew attention by way of emphasis without qualifying their report and (iii) did not contain a statement under Section 498 (2) or (3) of the Companies Act 2006. The text of the Auditor's report can be found in the Company's full Annual Report on the Company's website at: 

https://www.doretrust.com/investor-relations

 

Statement of Comprehensive Income

For the year from 1 January 2024 to 31 December 2024

 

 

 

Notes*

Revenue

 31 December 2024

£'000s

Capital

  31 December 2024

£'000s

Total

31 December 2024

£'000s

Revenue

 31 December 2023

£'000s

Capital

  31 December 2023

£'000s

Total

31 December 2023

£'000s

Income

 







Return on investment

5

10,888

(2,702)

8,186

10,872

(564)

10,308

Total income

 

10,888

(2,702)

8,186

10,872

(564)

10,308

 

Expenses

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Investment management fees

 

4

(1,967)

-

(1,967)

(2,043)

-

(2,043)

Directors' fees

18 & 22

(164)

-

(164)

(150)

-

(150)

Other expenses

6

(1,082)

-

(1,082)

(1,191)

-

(1,191)

Total expenses

 

(3,213)

-

(3,213)

(3,384)

-

(3,384)

Profit before taxation

 

 

7,675

(2,702)

4,973

7,488

(564)

6,924

Taxation               

7

-


-

-

-

-

Profit after taxation

 

7,675

(2,702)

4,973

7,488

(564)

6,924

Profit and total comprehensive income attributable to:

 

 



 

 

 

 

Equity holders of the Company

 

 

7,675

(2,702)

4,973

7,488

(564)

6,924

Earnings per share - Basic & diluted (pence)

8

4.4

(1.5)

2.9

4.1

(0.3)

3.8

 

The total column of this statement is the Statement of Comprehensive Income of the Company prepared in accordance with UK-adopted international accounting standards. The supplementary revenue return and capital columns have been prepared in accordance with the Association of Investment Companies Statement of Recommended Practice (AIC SORP).

 

Statement of Financial Position

As at 31 December 2024


 

Notes*

31 December 2023

£'000s

Non-current assets

 



Investments at fair value through profit and loss

9

199,517

212,030


 

199,517

212,030

Current assets

 



Trade and other receivables

10

416

 337

Cash and cash equivalents

15

778

 1,778


 

1,194

 2,115

 

 



Total assets

 

200,711

214,145

 

 



Current liabilities

 



Trade and other payables

11

(782)

(2,083)

 

 

(782)

(2,083)

 

 



Total liabilities

 

(782)

(2,083)

 

 



Net assets

 

199,929

212,062


 



Capital and reserves

 



Called up share capital

12

1,846

1,846

Share Premium

 

65,910

65,910

Special distributable reserve

13

99,717

107,341

Treasury Account

 

(11,172)

(4,065)

Revenue reserve

 

11,509

6,209

Capital reserve

 

32,119

34,821

Shareholders' funds

 

199,929

212,062

 

 

 

 

 

Net asset value per ordinary share (pence)

14

116.65

117.65

 

The audited financial statements of Downing Renewables & Infrastructure Trust PLC, which can be found in the full Annual Report, were approved by the Board of Directors and authorised for issue on 25 March 2025 and are signed on behalf of the Board by:

Hugh W M Little

Chair

Company registration number 12938740

 

Statement of Changes in Equity

For the year ending 31 December 2024

 


Share Capital

Share Premium

 

Capital Reserve

 

Treasury Account

 

Revenue Reserve

 

Special Distributable Reserve

Total

 

 

Notes*

£'000s

£'000s

£'000s

£'000s

£'000s

£'000s

£'000s

 

Net cash attributable to shareholders at 31 December 2022


                1,846

                65,910

               

35,385

                                -

               

1,140

 

114,618

 

 

218,899

 

Shares bought back


-

                -

                -

(4,065)

                -

                -

(4,065)

Dividends

 

 


-

-

-

-

(2,419)

(7,277)

(9,696)

Total comprehensive income for the year


-

-

(564)

-

7,488

-

       

         6,924

 

Net assets attributable to shareholders at 31 December 2023


1,846

65,910

34,821

(4,065)

6,209

107,341

212,062

Shares bought back

 

 

12

-

-

-

(7,107)

-

-

(7,107)

Dividends

 

 

20

-

-

-

-

(2,375)

(7,624)

(9,999)

Total comprehensive income for the year


-

-

(2,702)

                -

7,675

-

 

4,973

Net assets attributable to shareholders at 31 December 2024


1,846

65,910

32,119

(11,172)

11,509

99,717

199,929

 

The Company's distributable reserves consist of the Special distributable reserve, Capital reserve attributable to realised capital gains and Revenue reserve. There have been no realised gains or losses at the reporting date. Total reserves available for distribution were £111,226k (2023: £113,897k).

Statement of Cash Flows

For the year ending 31 December 2024

 

 

Notes*

Year to

31 December 2024

£000s

Year to

31 December 2023

£000s

 


 

 

Cash flows from operating activities

 

 

 

Profit before taxation

 

4,973

6,924

 

 

 

 

Adjusted for:

 

 

 

Interest income

5

(9,888)

(9,872)

Unrealised loss on investments at fair value

5

2,702

564

(Increase)/Decrease in receivables

 

(79)

230

(Decrease)/Increase in payables

 

(1,302)

221

Loan Interest Received

9

9,490

11,500

Net cash outflows from operating activities

 

5,896

9,567


 

 

 

Cash flows from investing activities

 

 

 

Loan advanced to DORE Holdco Limited

9

-

(17,356)

Loan repaid by DORE Holdco Limited

9

10,210

-

Net cash inflow/(outflows) from investing activities

 

10,210

17,356

 

 

 

 

Cash flows from financing activities

 

 

 

Amounts paid in respect of share buybacks

 

(7,107)

(4,065)

Dividends paid

20

(9,999)

(9,696)

Net cash flows from financing activities

 

(17,106)

(13,761)


 

 

 

Decrease in cash and cash equivalents

 

(1,000)

(21,550)

Cash and cash equivalents at the start of the year

 

1,778

23,328

Cash and cash equivalents at the end of the year

15

778

1,778


 

 

 

 



*The references to the Notes to the Financial Statements are available to view in the full Annual Report.

National Storage Mechanism

A copy of the Annual Report in full unedited text will be submitted shortly to the National Storage Mechanism ("NSM") and will be available for inspection at the NSM, which is situated at https://data.fca.org.uk/#/nsm/nationalstoragemechanism in accordance with DTR 6.3.5(1A) of the Financial Conduct Authority's Disclosure Guidance and Transparency Rules.

 

ENDS

Neither the contents of the Company's website nor the contents of any website accessible from hyperlinks on this announcement (or any other website) is incorporated into, or forms part of, this announcement.

 

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