Corcel acquires stake in 'shovel ready' gas peaking project

Exploration and development company Corcel said on Monday that it had acquired a 40% interest in the "shovel ready" Tring Road gas peaking project outside of Aylesbury from Arlington Energy.

Corcel took up the stake in the 50-megawatt project in order to provide "material additional exposure" to its existing UK flexible energy storage and production portfolio.

The AIM-listed group said the £400,000 consideration for the acquisition would be satisfied by £150,000 in cash and the issuance of 12.02m new ordinary shares in Corcel, locked in for six months, with Arlington Energy becoming a second "cornerstone investor" in the form, alongside the Chinese-owned outfit Sinom Group.

Chief executive Scott Kaintz said: "This is a highly significant milestone for Corcel. The addition of the 'shovel ready' Tring Road project to our existing Burwell project dramatically bolsters our position in the increasingly competitive flexible energy space here in the UK.

"We believe that gas peaking assets of this nature are essential to assist the transition to renewables and will provide significant trading margins given the variability of renewable energy production and the inherent volatility of UK energy demands."

As of 1330 BST, Corcel shares had surged 15.08% to 1.87p.