Downing Renewables & Infrastructure Trust (DORE) is buying a €20m portfolio of hydropower plants in Sweden from Batten and Daturum.

The London listed closed-end investment trust said it has agreed to buy the portfolio of two operational run-of-river hydropower plants through Downing Hydro AB (DHAB).

The two hydropower plants located in Sweden’s southern SE4 pricing region were renovated between May 2014 and September 2019 and have an aggregate forecast annual production of 18GWh pa.

The acquisition will increase the number of DHAB hydropower plants to 19. Back in January, the company invested €25m to buy two hydropower portfolios in Sweden.

Tom Williams, partner, head of energy and infrastructure at Downing LLP, the investment manager to DORE, said: “We are delighted to announce another accretive acquisition for DORE in the hydropower sector, the latest in a series of excellent opportunities for expansion of the DHAB platform that the team has worked so hard to establish.”

“Hydropower is one of the most effective sources of renewable energy, producing by far the most energy per unit of capacity of all of our renewable investments.

”When combined with the storage capacity of the reservoirs in the existing portfolio, we think it is a compelling investment. It will play a key role in furthering the transition to net zero.”

DORE said it is also considering the issue of new ordinary shares to fund additional investments.

“Raising further equity for the Company should allow us to continue to further enhance the portfolio for the benefit of shareholders by deploying into the attractive pipeline that we have available to us,” Williams said.

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