THE founder of Independent Energy, the electricity company that collapsed after it was overwhelmed with billing problems, has made a remarkable comeback by selling his first serious investment in wind power to Centrica for nearly £6 million.
John Sulley became a multimillionaire when Independent Energy, one of a new breed of electricity and gas resellers, grew into one of the biggest energy companies on the Stock Exchange. However, his dream collapsed in September 2000, brought down by an inability to send customers bills for the energy they had used.
Just months after calling in the receivers, Mr Sulley quietly founded Warwick Energy with two former Independent colleagues, Mark Petterson and Rob Jones. The business start-up yesterday sold an offshore wind farm site in the Irish Sea to a consortium that includes Centrica for almost £6 million.
Warwick was cashing in its rights to the site, which it won as part of the first wave of offshore wind farm licences awarded by the Crown Estate in April 2001.
Since then the company, which is backed by Coronation Holdings, a South African finance company, has invested £2 million to gain planning permission for the site, which is 8 km off the North West coast at Barrow-in-Furness, and to secure a grant from the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI).
The Barrow Offshore Wind project is one of just four out of 18 sites from the first wave of licences which is ready to be developed. When completed it will supply 90 megawatts of power, enough electricity to produce 15 million cups of environmentally friendly tea an hour.
Centrica and its partners will pay about £100 million to acquire and develop the site, which will hold 30 wind turbines — enough to power 80,000 homes, a town the size of Swindon. Most of this sum will be spent on construction of the huge offshore scheme.
Barrow is the gas giant’s first step into green energy after announcing in July that it would invest £500 million to develop offshore wind farms.
Mr Sulley and his Warwick Energy colleagues are now bidding for four more offshore wind farm licences in the DTI’s second round of competition.
Two months ago the DTI said that it hoped wind power could eventually supply 10 per cent of the UK’s electricity needs.
“We have been very successful with Barrow and we would be delighted to get four more licences,” Mr Petterson said. “However, it isn’t easy to get these sites up and running. A number of the original 18 licences have got stuck in the mire and may never come to anything.”
Construction of the wind farm will begin in spring 2004 and Warwick Energy will continue to manage the project. In the long term, the tiny five-man company will also retain a place on the management committee, although it retains no equity stake.
Centrica is working with DONG, the Danish energy group, and Statkraft, the Norwegian power company. The three partners will arrange full funding for the remainder of the project, which should begin producing electricity in 2005.
Sir Roy Gardner, chief executive of Centrica, said: “This is a significant step towards establishing British Gas as a major player in renewables.”
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