May 5 (Renewables Now) - Downing Renewables & Infrastructure Trust Plc (LON:DORE) said today it has agreed the acquisition of a portfolio of run-of-river hydropower plants (HPPs) in Sweden with a combined annual power output of roughly 18 GWh.

DORE will invest around EUR 20 million (USD 21.2m) to buy two operational plants from Batten AB and Daturum AB. Via the deal, the number of HPPs belonging to its subsidiary Downing Hydro AB will increase to 19 so that the unit’s power generation per year is raised by 60% compared to the end of 2021, to around 174 GWh.

The two HPPs are located in Sweden's southern SE4 pricing region and were refurbished between May 2014 and September 2019. DORE noted that these will be its first assets within the specific region, which has the highest wholesale power prices in the Nordic country.

The closed-end investment trust will fund the acquisition with money from its revolving credit facility.

Due to the “strong" pipeline of investment opportunities ahead, DORE is mulling over a plan to issue new ordinary shares and make more 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," said Tom Williams, Head of Energy and Infrastructure at DORE.

(EUR 1.0 = USD 1.060)

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