Aeternum Acquires 118 Acre Blackburn Site for New Jobs and Homes

LONDON, January 13, 2012 /PRNewswire/ --

Aeternum, the specialist infrastructure developer, has completed the acquisition of an 118 acre site near Blackburn, which will be the location of the company's third energy park. Aeternum is now working on an impressive investment strategy which will see the site redeveloped for mixed use, using the existing attributes of its power station, reservoirs and brownfield land where the mills were situated, together with a residential element for new homes within the borough.

The site of the former Sappi Paper Mill in Feniscowles, to the South West of Blackburn, will be developed simultaneously with sites at Castleford and Bromborough. As well as providing a reliable source of clean fuel and creating up to 400 jobs at the energy park, Aeternum plans to redevelop the former mill and is looking to partner with UK national building partners to commence work on a residential element of the development.

The Blackburn site is the latest acquisition by Aeternum and their investment partners. It forms part of Aeternum's commitment to developing a number of integrated renewable energy parks across the UK, focussed on providing renewable fuels, power and skilled employment.

The planning application is expected to be submitted in late Q1 2012. Alongside Aeternum's proposals for new renewable power generation, Aeternum is committed to working with existing stakeholders, including Scottish Power, to develop a co-located power user to benefit from Scottish Power's CHP operations.

David Frohnsdorff, Partner at Aeternum, said:

"The acquisition of the Blackburn site is tremendously exciting for Aeternum, as it gives us the opportunity to develop another energy park, creating jobs and providing an alternative low carbon fuel source.

"The residential element of our plan is also extremely important, at a time when the UK is experiencing an unprecedented housing shortage. It is estimated that the country will suffer from a shortfall of 750,000 homes by 2025, and developments like ours can play a crucial role in alleviating this problem."

Notes for Editors

• The specialist Aeternum Capital team work alongside investment partners to originate investments, create value, and deliver solutions for their UK Infrastructure Assets across water, waste and power sectors: http://www.aeternumcapital.com

Further statistics on the UK's housing shortfall can be found in the IPPR's March 2011 report entitled 'The good, the bad and the ugly'. The report can be downloaded from the following link: http://www.ippr.org/images/media/files/publication/2011/05/Good%20bad%20and%20ugly%20-%20Housing%20demand%202025_1829.pdf