JLEN acquires Norwegian aquaculture project and Scottish energy storage project

Environmental infrastructure fund JLEN announced two new acquisitions on Monday - one of a controlled environment aquaculture project in Norway and one of an energy storage project in Scotland.

JLEN said it had agreed to make an equity investment in the Hima Seafood facility in Rjukan, Norway, with the group expected to invest up to approximately £40.0m over the next three to four years.

The FTSE 250-listed group said the project consists of a land-based aquaculture facility and stated that partial operations were expected to commence in 2024, with full operations expected in 2025, when the facility is predicted to produce approximately 8,000 tonnes of trout per annum.

Separately, JLEN said it had acquired a 50% equity stake in Clayfords Energy Storage, which holds the development rights to construct a 50-megawatt lithium-ion battery energy storage plant based in Buchan, Aberdeenshire.

The investment, made alongside Foresight Solar Fund, will see JLEN invest up to £14.1m for the fully consented and construction-ready project. Commercial operations were pegged to begin in the fourth quarter of 2024.

"Storage projects such as this one provide vital support to the National Grid by reducing system imbalance and enhancing the grid's ability to harness a greater level of intermittent renewables on the system. The project will be connected to the Scottish Hydro Electric Power Distribution plc's distribution network and has a 49.9MW import and export connection," said JLEN.

As of 0905 BST, JLEN shares were up 0.28% at 124.75p.

Reporting by Iain Gilbert at Sharecast.com