Plutus on stand-by to stop the blackouts
A POWER firm with bright ideas about how to keep the lights on as coal-fired supplies are phased out is joining Aim.
Plutus PowerGen is the new name of former Aim-listed investment company Plutus Resources following its acquisition of Plutus Energy.
It was set up earlier this year to generate power from flexible stand-by generating farms.
The new company will generate revenues by selling this power to large energy supply companies during periods of peak demand.
As well as raising £800,000 to use as working capital, Plutus has already lined up financing to build its first couple of diesel generating sites to feed into the National Grid.
We are facing a very real risk of blackouts. Demand for power continues to grow at a time when renewable capacity is not replacing fully the lost higher carbon capacity
They cost about £5million each and it is planning 10 sites in three years. Each site is only turned on for about 100 hours a year to limit the environmental impact.
Executive chairman Charles Tatnall said: "We are facing a very real risk of blackouts. Demand for power continues to grow at a time when renewable capacity is not replacing fully the lost higher carbon capacity.
"There is a huge demand for stand-by power generation and we are ready to provide it.
"We are paid to be on stand-by, so - in the event of a potential blackout or if we are getting near to a blackout - the Grid will contact us and we will turn on the diesels remotely.
"The management team has a track record of building these diesel farms and winning tenders. We can fund the building from money raised through a subsidiary of the company, so it could be an attractive proposition for investors."