Carlton Power appoints Macquarie Capital as financial adviser on £1.2 billion Manchester power station

Carlton Power has appointed Macquarie Capital its exclusive financial adviser on raising debt and equity for its 1.8GW Trafford Power combined cycle gas turbine (CCGT) power station project in Greater Manchester, UK.

Carlton Power will enter Trafford Power into the UK Government’s Capacity Market Auction that is to be held in December 2014. The Capacity Market will offer payment support for 15 years to new build power stations in return for guarantees to provide capacity at times of stress on the electricity system.

Construction on the Trafford Power station is expected to start mid-2015 with operations commencing towards the end of 2018. The project will utilise the latest CCGT technology with greater efficiency and flexibility than the UK’s current fleet of gas-fired power stations.

The total project investment is estimated at £1.2 billion (US$1.99 billion).

Macquarie Capital has been appointed to raise capital for the project and will be approaching potential equity investors and debt providers to commence discussions leading up to DECC’s Capacity Market Auction in December. Carlton Power’s selection of Macquarie Capital is the latest appointment to the Trafford project, and follows the recent appointment of Marsh Limited as insurance advisers. Carlton Power will announce the selection of its EPC (engineering, procurement and construction) contractor in the next few weeks.

Keith Clarke, Managing Director of Carlton Power, stated:

We are delighted to have appointed such highly regarded financial advisers to assist with our Trafford project. Macquarie brings a wealth of experience of raising capital in the power and wider infrastructure industries. Their appointment comes at an exciting time for us as our Trafford project is now well advanced and on course for participation in the Capacity Market Auction at the end of this year and commercial operation in 2018. We are ready to begin active discussions with potential debt and equity investors.

Mark Dooley, Head of Development Capital, Macquarie Capital commented:

We are very pleased to have been appointed by Carlton Power to advise on the capital raise for Trafford Power station. The upcoming Capacity Market Auction is an important milestone for the UK energy sector and we believe that Carlton is extremely well positioned given its proven track record.