Osborne Clarke advises JLEN on £11M investment in Peacehill Farm AD plant

International legal practice Osborne Clarke has advised JLEN Environmental Assets Group Limited (JLEN) on an investment in the Peacehill Farm anaerobic digestion (AD) plant, for an aggregate amount of c.£11m. The investment consists of the provision of a debt facility and subscription for a minority stake in JLEAG AD Limited, which holds, through its wholly owned subsidiary Peacehill Gas Limited, the rights and operational assets at the Peacehill Farm AD plant. 

The Peacehill Farm AD plant, located in Wormit, Fife, Scotland, was commissioned in December 2015. The plant has a thermal capacity of about 5MW(th) and predominantly produces biomethane exported to the national gas grid. In addition, the plant also has a 0.25MW(e) CHP engine on site. The Peacehill Farm AD plant is accredited under the Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI) and Feed-in-Tariff (FiT) schemes, as are JLEN’s existing AD investments.

The Peacehill Farm AD plant is JLEN’s eighth investment in the agricultural AD sector. This investment increases the total capacity of renewable energy assets in the JLEN investment portfolio to 302.9MW.

The transaction was funded by a draw-down under the company’s revolving credit facility.

The Osborne Clarke team was led by Energy and Utilities Sector Leader and Partner James Watson who was assisted by Associate Director Alex Underwood, Partner Matthew Bodfield and Senior Associate Jonny Gait. The broader Osborne Clarke team consisted of Partner Matthew Germain and Senior Associate Caroline Bush (environment and feedstock), Partner Carl Thompson and Senior Associate Duncan Parker (construction), Associate Director Amy Stray (energy), Partner Mathew Oliver and Associate Director James Hamon (tax), Partner Jakub Kubicki and Senior Associate David Smith (banking), Senior Associate Andrew Carter and Associate Sarvie Banisi (Corporate) and Matthew Kyle (regulatory health and safety). Scottish based law firm Harper Macleod advised on property and planning.

JLEN is a respected client of Osborne Clarke and this is the eighth acquisition the team has advised on.

Osborne Clarke has an established and well-respected position as one of the leading law firms advising on renewable energy projects and transactions. For over 20 years, it has helped clients to seize new opportunities and meet the challenges of making energy generation clean, affordable and secure. The combination of the team’s experience and understanding of the energy sector means they are regularly called upon to support businesses on all aspects of their commercial, regulatory, corporate, finance and construction legal needs.