Two of the biggest life insurance firms in the UK have sealed investment deals in infrastructure as the sector continues to show its growing desire for physical assets. Insurance firm Legal & General has announced that is is to pump £65 million into Newcastle Science Central, which is a £350 million science and technology park that will be constructed on a 24 acre site in the city centre. Meanwhile, the Pension Insurance Corporation has said it will inject £100 million into debt secured on the new Thames Tideway Tunnel, or a ‘super sewer’, which is a project costing £4.2 billion and is expected to be complete in 2023. These are the latest in a series of deals secured by insurance companies as they show a growing trend towards investing in bricks and mortar assets. While infrastructure remains a small section of insurance firms’ overall operations, it is a sector that has seen rapid growth. One of the attractions of physical assets is that they offer cash flow in the long term to match the extended liabilities of insurers. This is crucial for firms such as PIC and Legal & General which specialise in pension products and annuity that can last for several decades. Furthermore, because it is often illiquid, there are often better returns offered in infrastructure than those available on other long term assets like corporate bonds of government. Black Rock’s Insurance Asset Management Team Managing Director, Patrick Liedtke, said that infrastructure debt ‘ticks all the boxes’ as it provides investment grade paper that is long dated and allows insurance firms to match their liabilities and assets. He added that the companies are using it to replace some of the more classic papers that they would have otherwise held. Earlier this year, Goldman Sachs Asset Management conducted a survey that found infrastructure equality and infrastructure debt are among insurers’ most popular asset clauses, with a significant majority intending to pledge more money into the assets than take money away.

UK engineering firm Mott MacDonald and Swedish planning firm Sweco have been jointly appointed by Transport Scotland as consultants for dualling a 29 mile stretch of the A96. The A96 stretches from Inverness to Aberdeen, with the proposed dualling stretch situated between Fochabers and Hardmuir. The two firms (MMS JV) will explore potential options for the work before then taking on the detailed design work. Transport Scotland say that the contract was worth up to £50 million and hopes the scheme will significantly reduce driving times between Aberdeen and Inverness. The group is planning to improve the whole 86 miles of the A96 by 2030 and is starting off by targeting the stretches that suffer the worst bottlenecks on a regular basis that result in widespread disruption and traffic congestion. The Fochabers to Hardmuir section of the road is mainly made up of single lane carriageway which passes close to or through various villages and towns. The two firms will start their joint venture this summer with their assessment and design work before embarking on the process of assessing the various possible route options, which is anticipated to take up to two years to complete. Along the full length of the new road there will be numerous grade separated junctions where several communities will see the creation of new bypasses, including Elgin and Forres. The work will also see the construction of new crossings at the River Spey, the River Lossie and the River Findhorn, along with the rail line between Inverness and Aberdeen. Earlier in the month, Transport Scotland announced a five month delay on the construction of the Queensferry Crossing. The original opening date of December 2016 has now been put back to May 2017 due to adverse weather conditions, specifically high winds.

High Speed Two (HS2) Limited has invited nine companies to tender for a works package worth £11.8 billion. Initially shortlisted in March this year, the nine firms have all been invited by HS2 officials to tender for the civil engineering package for the first phase of the project, which will cover Birmingham to London, and is worth up to £8.6 billion. Further on in the tendering process, firms who have been successful will then be eligible to start bidding for a phase 2a, which is worth another £1.8 billion – £3.3 billion of work. This phase will cover Crewe to Birmingham. The companies have each been invited to tender for the work packages, which include Long Itchington Wood Green tunnel to Delta Junction / Birmingham Spur (£900m-£1.5bn) and Chiltern tunnels and Colne Valley viaduct (£800m-£1.3bn). It is expected that the civil engineering contracts that will cover the 225km first phase of the scheme will be signed next year, with work set to begin on site the following year. Overall, phase one of HS2 is expected to create almost 15,000 jobs and apprenticeships in the construction industry. Meanwhile, David Cameron recently said that a Brexit vote would result in both HS2 and HS3 schemes being under threat. He said that if the UK elects to leave the European Union on June 23, this could lead to and end of the proposed investment levels in the rail sector. He added that while the Government would still try to maintain investments in the projects if we leave the EU, this would pose a significantly greater challenger than if we were to remain. Earlier in the year, Chancellor George Osborne said that £60 million would be funded into rail in order to make the connection between Manchester and Leeds faster by 30 minutes. The current budget for HS2 is £55.7 billion and is a major part of the Government’s ‘northern powerhouse’ scheme.

Plumb Center is leading the calls for the introduction of further boiler scrappage schemes. The success of the London Boiler Scrappage scheme so far has resulted in the company’s request and it is hoped that other local authorities will introduce similar schemes. The scheme is now just over four months old, and over a fifth of the maximum 6,500 vouchers have so far been issued, with a further 4,000 applications and rising currently being processed. The pattern reflects the one seen in 2010 during the National Boiler Scrappage scheme and shows the appetite of both landlords and homeowners to replace their inefficient boilers when a suitable incentive is on offer. This has resulted in Plumb Center seeing further potential for the scheme and is now encouraging other local authorities to follow London’s lead. Plumb Center’s Head of Sustainability, Tim Pollard, said that a significant amount of homeowners will grasp the opportunity to scrap their old boilers. He added that the success of the scheme comes as no surprise to him and he is convinced that the full target of 6,500 installations will be met in the near future. Mr Pollard said that the careful planning and execution of the scheme has been a major contributor to its success and learns from the successes and failures of previous similar initiatives. He continued that the scheme also provides a welcome boost for the heating industry, with many homeowners stalling on plans to update their heating systems because of the mild winter experienced this year. The London Boiler Scrappage scheme will provide up to 6,500 accredited private landlords and owner occupiers in London the chance to claim back £400 in cash upon the replacement of their inefficient but still working boiler (must be rated below 70% efficiency). Their inefficient system will then be replaced with a new ‘A-rated’ model, or a low carbon renewable heating system.

Welsh Water has confirmed that it is to give a £32 million boost to its customers. The additional funding has been made available by the non-profit company to go towards projects aimed at benefiting its customers, as the firm announced its results. The £32 million figure is the equivalent of the dividends paid by other companies to its shareholders, but because of the firm’s ownership model, this surplus is put back into expenditure that will see customers reap the benefits. The cash will be used to give extra financial help for customers having difficulties paying their bills; to invest in more renewable energy generation schemes, improve services for areas suffering persistent water supply problems, and to contribute towards the funding of the new Llys y Fran visitor centre in Pembrokeshire. The £32 million sum will boost the firm’s existing £1.7 billion capital investment scheme for the next four year spell, and comes in off the back of a series of positive results for the water firm. During the year, Welsh Water posted an £18 million underlying profit, with operating costs just shy of £300 million and capital expenditure of £279 million. Robert Ayling, Chairman at Welsh Water, said that he was proud and pleased to be able to report the great shape the company is in after his 15 years of ownership, in both financial and operational terms. He said that the primary purpose of the firm is to produce the highest possible standards for customers at the lowest possible price. He believes that the firm’s non-shareholder ownership model is able to deliver that. Chris Jones, Chief Executive, said that the firm’s unique model of ownership enables them to use funds that would otherwise be paid to shareholders to benefit its customers. He says that this helps reduce costs, which in turn brings down the cost of customer bills and generates more energy on the firm’s own sites.

The latest report from the Renewable Energy Association has claimed that the record growth seen in the renewable energy sector has been threatened by ‘turbulent’ policy changes. Although last year saw record high growth rates and employment levels, the report states that the renewable energy sector in the UK is to suffer from repeated policy interventions. The REA’s REView 2016 report, which was released earlier in the week, says that these interventions have ‘blind sided’ the industry. The data reveals that the impressive rates of growth in the renewable energy sector, which increased in value by 4% more than any other sector of the UK economy in 2015, is set to slow down over the next few years due to ‘severe and sudden’ changes in policy by the Government. The statistics gathered by the REA show that the sector’s total market value last year reached over £15.9 billion, which is an increase of almost £1 billion (£982 million) and a 6.6% growth rate. While the rest of the economy grew by only 2.5%, the renewables sector was able to add 4,760 jobs in the same space of time, which raised total employment numbers to 116,788. However, even though renewable energy sources accounted for 22.3% of power in the UK last year, the lack of movement in transport and heat generation, along with political uncertainty, has resulted in a ‘turbulent’ future being painted for the industry. Nina Skorupska, Chief Executive of the REA, said that 2015 saw another record breaking year for the renewable energy sector in Britain and once again saw the industry outperforms growth rates of the UK. However, she continued by saying that many business have been left reeling by the severe policy changes and deployment has started to slow down. Despite this, Ms Skorupska said that things will continue to grow as the industry will innovate and preserve.

The International Energy Agency says that the ‘golden age’ of natural gas has now been put on hold. Last year saw the consumption of natural gas in China grow at its slowest rate for 17 years, which, according to the world’s leading energy body, is said to be one of the factors that will hinder the commencement of the fuel’s ‘golden age’. The country, which is being transformed into a consumer-driven economy, has seen a deceleration in gas demand growth to around 4% last year, which was the slowest rate since 1998. That is a significant fall in average growth compared with the 15% rate between 2009 and 2014. IEA Executive Director, Faith Birol, said that China remains in the best position in terms of gas demand growth, however it has considerably slowed down from its previous rate. He says that as a consequence of this, the arrival of the golden age of gas has stalled. In industrialised countries from the US to Europe there has been subdued economic growth which has also contributed to the slowing global energy demand growth. Mr Birol said that this has created ‘headwinds’ for natural gas, at a time when it was anticipated that it would play a bigger role in the global energy mix. He also commented that the fall in gas prices, which can be linked to the collapse of oil over the last year and a half, has not resulted in a stronger than expected demand. Gas is now not just facing competition from cost-wise alternative, but also the new climate agreement signed in Paris, which has mobilised renewable technology support. As a result of all this, gas has found it difficult to compete. In the period up to 2021, global gas consumption growth will fall to an average yearly growth rate of 1.5%, compared with the 2.5% rate over the last six years.

Larger mortgages should be allowed for more energy efficient homes, says a new project. The group is called LENDERS and is comprised of green energy groups and sustainable bodies, building industry experts and mortgage lenders. It is now trying to show that if mortgage lending decisions consider more accurate estimates of fuel costs, then this may lead to lower energy consuming homes being responsibly afforded larger mortgages. The Nationwide Building Society chairs the group which is now examining ways of moving on from the way energy costs are currently estimated in the mortgage lending process, which the group believes will help more responsible borrowing. LENDERS is in the process of gathering data in order to present more accurate energy cost affordability and information that will feed into the process of mortgage lending. The group say that the scheme will help in supporting more responsible lending. In addition it means that because of their lower fuel bills, more energy efficient homes will also have lower costs in other areas. As a result these home owners will therefore be able to repay an increased rate of mortgage repayment instalments without the fear of their overall outgoings increasing. The group believes that this will in turn lead to the capacity to deliver high capital lending amounts. It is hoped that by making larger mortgages available for more energy efficient homes, this will stimulate consumer awareness of the benefits of greener homes and in the long term it is hoped that this demand will contribute to driving the housing market. This in turn will increase the value of more energy efficient homes. The group also say it would encourage more home owners to put more money into improving energy efficient building solutions. LENDERS also believe that this will be useful for re-mortgages to conduct projects relating to energy refurbishment.

A report has shown that coal-fired power plants may be allowed to run past 2025 providing they make some use of carbon capture and storage (CCS). Amber Rudd, Energy Secretary, promised in November’s ‘energy reset speech’ to remove all unabated coal generation in the next 10 years. There was originally meant to be a consultation on the proposed cut off in spring of this year but this is still yet to take place. An unnamed source from Whitehall is reported to have said that there are many points related to the coal industry that the consultation will address as well as gauging public opinion. The source also said that the consultation will also outline what will happen to all coal power stations after the 2025 date and that is you choose to fit it with CCS, this will set a level which will not be permitted. However, the government may yet choose to stop any coal generation that has any amount of carbon emissions but any discussion on this topic are still said to be purely speculative at this moment in time. The coal forum had a meeting in February this year and the minutes of that discussion show that Andrea Leadsome, Energy Minister, is encouraging the coal industry to ‘engage in consultation’ by raising any questions or concerns they may have. A Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) spokeswoman said that unabated coal is the most polluting and dirtiest method of electricity generation. Due to this, she said that the government is fully committed to removing unabated coal power production by 2025 and that there is no alternative. She said that this way made clear last year and that the department has not changed its outlook in this regard, before adding that the coal closures consultation will be outlined in the next few months.

Fossil fuel companies are being told that if they ignore the latest climate change deal they will face financial turmoil. The warning comes from British economist Lord Nicholas Stern who emphasised the importance of the Paris climate change agreement as well as insisting that companies should be required to inform investors of how they will evade these threats. Lord Stern made his address at a climate task force organised by Mark Carney, Bank of England governor, and also commented that there is an alarming gap between the details of the December Paris agreement and what fossil fuel firms are taking from it. In his submission to the task group which was chaired by former New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg, Lord Stern says that the difference is alarming for both central bankers and policy makers. The task force is set up to advance voluntary, uniform standards that organisations can present to investors, insurers and banks to illustrate the ways they are coping with financial risks relating to the climate. Given that fossil fuels contribute to almost 80% of the world’s primary energy use, it is clear that the world economy is still massively dependant on them despite being a major contributor to greenhouse gases. The latest Paris agreement states that almost all world countries have agreed to regularly disclose the ways it will deal with greenhouse gases with the ultimate aim of bringing net emissions for the year to zero. Author of a UK study conducted 10 years ago into the economic implications of climate change, Lord Stern said that unless the shift is handled with caution, assets in fossil fuels could be hit with ‘stranding and mass scrapping’. His submission states that from the perspective of investors, it is one thing for businesses to think that governments were not being serious in the Paris agreement, but it is too far for them to plan their whole strategy in the hope that this is true.