Ablrate launches loan that will help secure energy for NHS hospitals
Ablrate has launched a loan to support the purchase of a biomass pellet plant that will provide energy for NHS hospitals and the food supply chain.
The asset-backed peer-to-peer lender has worked closely with Forepower on the purchase out of administration of the pellet plant in Grangemouth in Scotland, and the Ablrate borrower Catfoss Group which is developing eco-friendly commercial solutions.
The loan is required to re-open two mothballed biomass wood pellet factories which can produce 50,000 tonnes per site and store similar amounts on both sites.
Ablrate said that hundreds of hospitals, health, and social care facilities, supermarkets and many large-scale food producers are already working to maximum capacity and relying solely on biomass wood fuel for heating and hot water.
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The loan is now live with £300,000 already raised, paying 13 per cent per annum to lenders. It is secured by the whole site that has had over £18m spent on it.
“As an investment it ticks the boxes, but more importantly it will assist in the national effort to keep the NHS and our food supply chains moving,” said David Bradley-Ward (pictured), chief executive of Ablrate.
“We have worked with Andrew and his team at Forepower on waste-to-energy plants, battery storage facilities and gas-fired power stations, so when we heard that Grangemouth was available we contacted Andrew and began working on the project purchase culminating with an initial loan for £2.5m listed on Ablrate.
“We couldn’t have known how important it would become to get the plant up and running again.”
Andrew Foreman, the founder of Forepower and the Catfoss Group, has paid the deposits to acquire the sites.
Due to the coronavirus, he wants to fast track the process and get them operational as soon as possible.
“The factories we are buying have substantial technical equipment that is ready to fire up to start producing wood pellets so we can get closer to being 100 per cent self-sufficient,” he said.
“Supply chains could be disrupted for the next two years due to the aftermath of the coronavirus, so we need to act now.
“But this is a long-term investment. As we look beyond the coronavirus, the UK has the capability to be self-reliant with wood pellets, which in return contributes to protecting our hospitals, our food chain and our environment.”
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