Energy business secures £100m to build new power plants

A Birmingham-based energy business has raised £100m to build 11 new gas-fuelled power stations.

The funding secured by Green Frog Power – from Lloyds Bank Commercial Banking, HSBC and NIBC Bank – will finance sites to be built across the UK, from Plymouth to Newcastle.

Once online, the company said the power stations will help ensure the UK’s energy resilience, allowing renewable sources to contribute more power to the grid.

The new sites are set to boost Green Frog Power’s total output to 750MW – enough to power more than a million homes.

The addition of the new plant will help the firm to increase its presence in the traded UK energy markets and to secure more long-term contracts with National Grid, which is responsible for balancing the supply and demand of power in the UK.

Green Frog Power is one of the leading developers of fast-starting, gas-fuelled power stations. Their plant ramps up to full output within five minutes. This enables it to quickly provide power to homes whenever output – including from renewable energy sources – is low.

The business, which has annual turnover of £250m, was established by Jeremy Taylor and Mark Jones in 2009. It currently operates 33 stations across the country and is looking to increase its capacity to 2GW in the next five years.

The £100m facility has an additional £50m accordion that allows GFP to build another 110MW of plants over the next few years.

Jeremy Taylor, director and co-founder at Green Frog Power, said: “We’re delighted to have closed another deal with our long-term banking partners, who have again shown a sophisticated understanding of a complicated but fruitful market. The new plants will allow us to continue to solve the ever-increasing problems caused by intermittent renewable energy.”

Jemal Omar, relationship director at Lloyds Bank Commercial Banking, which supplied £55.5m of the funding, said: “Green Frog Power is at the forefront of Britain’s move towards low-carbon fuel by reinforcing the country’s energy resilience.

“The growth of gas-fuelled power has steadily increased in recent years as issues surrounding fossil fuels have been brought into the spotlight. Supporting businesses like Green Frog Power that are tackling this is one of the ways we’re helping Britain prosper.”