This week’s edition of Smart Energy Finances highlights a new sustainability bond from Enel Finance, touted by the Group as the first to link EU taxonomy with United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.
Also on the radar are announcements from European energy trading platform Enmacc, which has launched guarantees of origin onto their request-for-quote platform after a successful Series B, and a leadership report from Guidehouse Insights, which has named Schneider Electric, General Electric, Oracle and OSI as leading Advanced Distribution Management Systems (ADMS) vendors.
Enel Finance first to link sustainability bond to EU taxonomy and SDGs
Enel Finance International N.V. (EFI) has launched a dual-tranche sustainability-linked bond for institutional investors in the Eurobond market for a total of €1.5 billion ($1.6 billion).
The new issue marks the first use by Enel of multiple KPIs per tranche. And is the first time in a public bond issuance – claims the Group – that a tranche of a bond couples a KPI linked to the EU Taxonomy with a KPI linked to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
The other tranche of the bond is linked to two KPIs related to the Group’s decarbonisation path, across direct and indirect greenhouse gas emission reduction.
The bond, which is guaranteed by Enel, was almost three times oversubscribed, with total orders of approximately €4 billion ($4.3 billion).
The issuance is structured in the following two tranches:
- €750 million ($798 million) at a fixed rate of 4.000%, with a settlement date set on 20 February 2023, maturing 20 February 2031. The issue price has been set at 98.877% and the effective yield at maturity is equal to 4.168%;
- €750 million at a fixed rate of 4.500%, with a settlement date set on 20 February 2023, maturing on 20 February 2043. The issue price has been set at 97.669% and the effective yield at maturity is equal to 4.682%.
The interest rate of both will remain unchanged to maturity, subject to the achievement of Sustainability Performance Targets.
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Trading platform adds GoOs for power and gas
Enmacc GmbH, an Over-The-Counter (OTC) energy trading platform in Europe, has launched Guarantees of Origin (GoOs) onto their Request-For-Quote (RFQ) platform, with the first trades completed.
Enmacc cites the move as a response to the necessity to decarbonise across industries and the evolving needs of Enmacc customers, who can now trade GoOs with the same RFQ technology as for power and gas and gain access to a new liquidity pool.
The launch came seven weeks after the second and final closing of Series B financing, in which the tech venture capital firm Bayern Kapital joined a group of investors.
Bayern Kapital’s Wachstumsfonds Bayern joined alongside Alantra’s Klima Energy Transition Fund, which led the financing round at €210 million ($223 million), and the 10x Group. Previous investors also include Chevron Technology Ventures, Piton Capital and Illuminate Financial.
While the final amount of the closed round has not been disclosed, Enmac touts it as an eight-figure sum.
The company is using the Series B capital to strengthen its position across Europe and introduce additional commodities, starting with guarantees of origin, which will be followed by CO2 emission allowances (EUAs).
Founded in 2016 and headquartered in Munich, Germany, Enmacc aims to digitalise the energy trading process with a network of up to 2000 traders from various institutions, including energy suppliers, industrial companies, energy trading houses and municipal utilities.
Enmacc is now using its reach in the European market to move beyond power and gas; they have started rolling out environmental commodities — such as guarantees of origin and soon carbon allowances — trading on the platform.
Also of interest:
GridVerse – Enel Grids’ approach to the metaverse
Smart Energy Finances: Macquarie Assets acquires National Gas and sells Open Grid Europe
Guidehouse Insights highlights ADMS leaders
A new report from Guidehouse Insights examines the competitive landscape for Advanced Distribution Management Systems (ADMS) vendors.
While many vendors and utilities consider ADMS to be a combination of SCADA, a distribution management system (DMS) and an outage management system (OMS), this integrated architecture has grown in recent years to include EMS and DERMS modules, though this is not universal across vendors.
This evolution has led to a smaller, more refined pool of vendors made up of traditional OEMs, software conglomerates and several specialised providers.
And according to a Leaderboard report from Guidehouse Insights – Guidehouse Insights Leaderboard: ADMS Vendors, compares eight ADMS vendors using ten criteria: Vision, Go-to-Market Strategy, Partners, Technology, Geographic Reach, Sales & Marketing, Product Performance, Product Portfolio & Integrations, Pricing, and Staying Power – Schneider Electric, General Electric, Oracle, and OSI are the leading ADMS vendors.
“Among the collection of utility IT and OT systems, ADMS has been at the forefront of market innovation and investment over the past decade,” says Michael Kelly, principal research analyst with Guidehouse Insights.
“Leading ADMS providers continue to adequately differentiate themselves via highly sophisticated and reliable solutions, holistic product portfolios, low total cost-of-ownership, and more flexible architectures, pricing options and deployment models.”
Guidehouse Insights states how each of these companies stands out from the competition because of their technological development and portfolios, strong partner relationships, sustainable business models and significant market traction.
While Schneider Electric and General Electric are capitalising on their early-mover status through their solutions and product roadmaps, relative newcomers Oracle and OSI continue to make significant inroads with their own set of unique differentiators.
All of the vendors in the Leaderboard ranked as Leaders or Contenders, indicating a fiercely competitive landscape and an increasing need for them to differentiate.
For the latest in news coming from the energy industry’s finance and investment scene, make sure to follow Smart Energy Finances Weekly.
Cheers,
Yusuf Latief
Content Producer, Smart Energy International
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