Multi-utility network operator mua Group has secured a £100 million debt facility from three of the UK’s biggest banks.
Lloyds Bank, Natwest, and Santander UK provided the finance package, the latter having already provided debt funding to mua Group in 2022.
Mua group has an orderbook of over 415,000 contracted residential, industrial and commercial gas and electricity connections across the UK. This new funding will allow mua to continue its growth as an Independent Distribution Network Operator (IDNO) by enhancing its extra high-voltage (EHV) and high-voltage (HV) connection offerings, allowing it to provide stronger connection services for battery energy storage systems (BESS), large industrial and commercial projects, and electric vehicle charging infrastructure.
Gregory Addison-Smyth, managing director at mua group, commented: “Securing this £100 million debt facility is a great endorsement of our business and our plan, and marks another strategic milestone for us at mua. Our rapid and sustainable growth over recent years has established us as one of Britain’s leading independent multi-utility network operators. This additional funding creates a fantastic platform to fuel our future growth across our established utility markets, such as BESS, data centres and EV charging.
“We’re grateful to Santander UK for continuing to support us through this debt financing, since providing our original funding facility back in 2022, and we welcome the support of our new funding partners Lloyds Bank and NatWest.”
Kristian Marsden, mua group asset investment director, added: “This milestone is a testament to the outstanding achievements of the mua team and underscores the success we have attained. It also reflects the trust and continued support of our clients, who rely on us to deliver exceptional service.
“With this additional funding, we look forward to refining our customer experience with new and innovative technological solutions to make the end-to-end asset adoption process even more seamless.”
Grid infrastructure in the spotlight
Other network operators and distributors have also been looking to boost the strength of the UK’s grid infrastructure.
Earlier this week, SSEN Distribution announced that it had invested £5 million into electricity grid infrastructure upgrades to benefit the town of Witney, Oxfordshire. These upgrades are expected to benefit almost 30,000 homes and businesses and add 14.2MW of capacity to the grid, allowing for greater use of green technologies.
Meanwhile, SP Energy Networks has invested £20 million in various grid upgrades, including a £7 million upgrade to the Brokencross Wind Farm. Brokencross has been fitted with a collector substation which is now able to feed wind energy into the wider grid network. According to SP Energy Networks, this could provide enough energy to power up to 50,000 homes each year.
