Whirlwind Update

Ecofin US Renewables Infrastr.Trust

27 July 2023

 

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.

27 July 2023

ECOFIN U.S. RENEWABLES INFRASTRUCTURE TRUST PLC

(the "Company")

Whirlwind Update

·      Establishment of a temporary alternate transmission route

·      Rebuilding of the Matador substation

·      Progress of insurance claims for business interruption and necessary repairs

Further to the Whirlwind Update announcement published by the Company on 26 June 2023 (RNS Number: 8161D), related to the 21 June 2023 tornado in Matador, Texas, the Company's 59.8 MW Whirlwind Energy wind farm ("Whirlwind") in Floydada, Texas, remains temporarily offline. As previously communicated, the tornado left the Whirlwind asset itself unharmed and affected only five project-owned transmission poles at the far end of Whirlwind's transmission line along with the American Electric Power ("AEP") owned substation in Matador, Texas through which Whirlwind transmits electricity.

The Investment Manager continues to work closely with Whirlwind's asset and operations managers, AEP and The Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) authorities, to put in place a plan to remedy the outage at Whirlwind. The Company is pleased to report that, based on AEP estimates, we expect to achieve interconnection during the fourth quarter of 2023 via an alternate route, past Matador through a substation in Paducah, Texas.  This alternate transmission arrangement will allow 80% capacity throughput relative to full capacity (50 MW versus the full capacity of 59.8 MW) on an interim basis, with a corresponding reduction in forecasted cash flows. Due to the importance of power sources such as the Company's Whirlwind asset to the ERCOT system, AEP intends to build a new substation at Matador as quickly as possible and return Whirlwind to full capacity. AEP expects this process to take approximately 18 months, at which time Whirlwind will return to its prior interconnection route and to full capacity.

The Company and its insurance provider are working together to file claims, where applicable, for business interruption and necessary repairs to the damaged project-owned transmission poles. The claims are yet to be finalised with the insurers, but it is expected that the Company's insurance policy will provide coverage, at a minimum, for both the damaged transmission poles and for 120 days of business interruption losses that occur from outages (following a 45-day waiting period).

The Company and the Investment Manager continue to dedicate significant resources to accelerate the Whirlwind remediation plan as outlined, working closely with all relevant stakeholders. 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	[phone]
Peel Hunt LLP (Joint Corporate Broker) Liz Yong Luke Simpson Huw Jeremy	[phone]
Stifel (Joint Corporate Broker) Edward Gibson-Watt Rajpal Padam Madison Kominski	[phone]
Apex Listed Companies Services (UK) Limited (Company Secretary)              Martin Darragh Maria Matheou	[phone]
FTI Consulting (Financial PR) Matthew O'Keeffe Mitch Barltrop Vee Montebello	[phone]

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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