NC02 Complete Mar April 2014:Layout 1
25/02/2014
14:40
Page 69
NATURAL CAPITAL
MARCH / APRIL 2014
CASE STUDY: NATIONAL HEALTH SERVICE OF UK
Guys and St Thomas' Hospital is where SDCL’s "Powering Health" collaboration with General Electric and the National Health Service (NHS) Confederation of the UK began. Hospitals consume nearly three times the energy of a typical commercial building. After installing a 3MW natural gas Jenbacher engine to provide heat and power (pictured inset), the hospital saw £1.5 million ($2.5 million) energy savings in its first year. Additionally, over 11,000 tons of CO2 will be saved each year going forward. Following the successful installation by GE and Guys and St Thomas’ Hospital, SDCL committed to work with GE and the NHS Confederation to offer similar solutions, fully financed, to other hospitals throughout the UK.
That deal is believed to have made SDCL the first in the world to manage a government-backed fund dedicated to energy efficiency. More was to follow quickly as Maxwell turned his sights to the east and Singapore which has committed to achieving a reduction in carbon emissions from 2012 levels by between seven to 11 per cent in 2020. With energy efficiency identified as one of key ways to help meet this target, the market was open for Maxwell’s SDCL. So followed the company’s second government-backed fund. Last year (2013) Sustainable Development Capital Asia launched the Singapore Energy Efficiency Investment Programme for up to SGD $200 million to finance the transformation of manufacturing facilities with energy efficient systems and technologies. Maxwell also knew that strategic partnerships with key local players in the market with a solid reputation in the area of sustainability would be a key to success. Sustainable Technology Investments Limited, managed by UK financial services doyens Stephen Lansdown and Gordon Power, established a partnership with SDCL to launch its dedicated energy efficiency fund manager in the UK.
“Energy efficiency is good for business. It reduces costs, improves productivity and growth; it makes a real difference to the bottom line and can also go a long way to maintaining profitability.”
Similarly, SDCL Asia is a joint venture between SDCL and the First Eastern Investment Group - a Hong Kong-based investment group pioneering in the field of direct investments in China. Founded by Victor Chu in 1988, First Eastern and its associates have invested into over 100 projects in China covering infrastructure, light industries, real estate development and financial services, generating more than $7 billion of total investments. More success was to come from Asia when in December 2013, it was revealed that SDCL Asia was launching the UK China Energy Efficiency Investments Fund, which would seek to invest up to $200 million in energy efficiency projects and opportunities.
This deal was announced when SDCL was invited to take part in the largest-ever British business delegation to China led by UK Prime Minister, David Cameron. But it has been years in planning. (See photo at beginning of this article). Chairman of the First Eastern Investment Group, Victor Chu, says: “First Eastern established the UK China Fund partnership concept during the Prime Minister’s first visit to China in November 2010 to bring the best of British business to China. SDCL was our key investment in the green economy. Now is the perfect time for us to connect its achievements in the UK with the huge opportunities in China.” But, what exactly does this fund aim to do? Maxwell explains:“Essentially this is a major initiative to bring the best efficiency technology and service solutions from the UK to China, and visa versa.” Following swiftly after that news was the announcement that SDCL was the Preferred Applicant for the creation of a €70 million ($96 million) Irish Energy Efficiency Fund announced by Energy Minister Pat Rabbitte – although, not surprisingly, Maxwell’s plans to grow the fund are much more ambitious. “This fund is structured in a way that we provide matched funding and initial commitment is up to €35 million ($48 million) each but I would hope that was just a starting ➳
69