Principal Investments

Investing in assets and shareholdings across the commodity trading spectrum

RWE Supply & Trading founded Principal Investments in order to develop a profitable portfolio of asset investments and company shareholdings in addition to commodities trading positions. Our extensive expertise on the international energy commodities markets puts us at a huge advantage here. The focus is on the markets, of which we have an in-depth understanding and in which we are physically active, in order to best manage the inherent commodities risks they present.

Investments in primarily commodity-related assets and companies generally amount to up to USD 50 million.
Active contribution of skills and knowledge of commodities trading and technical expertise to expand RWE’s market presence.
Targeted investments in projects whose value creation is largely generated by the commodities business and less via a complex financing structure.
Regional focus on Europe, North and South America and Asia-Pacific.

Team

Our team of experienced investment experts headed by Kostas Papamantellos is spread across three RWE sites in the UK and the US. This leads to very effective synergies with RWE’s other core areas of expertise and ensures the broadest possible geographic coverage.

Kostas Papamantellos – Head

Kostas is Head of Principal Investments for RWE Supply & Trading. Kostas is an investment and commercial executive with 15 years’ experience in the energy industry. Further to a commercial role in the energy related industrial goods sector, Kostas joined The Boston Consulting Group in 2005 where he focused on strategic due diligence cases for major private equity companies. Kostas joined the RWE Group in 2008 to help expand its business internationally along the entire value chain of the company. He joined the RWEST Principal Investments fund in 2011. Kostas holds an MSc and PhD degree in Engineering from the RWTH Aachen University in Germany.
Catherine Wainwright – Chief Operating Officer

Catherine led PI’s successful acquisition, biomass project development and the eventual sale of Lynemouth Power Limited in 2016, including the award and EU state aid approval for a UK government contract for its biomass conversion. Catherine has led a number of major commercial transactions and acquisitions for RWE and was previously head of UK Structured Origination. She has over 30 years’ experience in the energy industry covering origination, biomass, M&A, power and gas transactions, project development, regulatory and environmental issues and LNG. Catherine holds a degree in Theoretical Physics from Durham University and a Masters in Business Administration from Birmingham University.
Stephen O'Reilly - Investment Manager

Stephen joined RWE Supply & Trading in 2009. From 2009 to 2013 Stephen was Director of Development at Excelerate Energy, an LNG trader and regasification services provider in which RWE held a 50% interest. Stephen led Excelerate’s deal origination and business development efforts in Europe, Middle East and India. Prior to joining RWE, Stephen was at National Grid where he was responsible for the commercial and technical development of various projects, including National Grid’s Isle of Grain Combined Heat and Power (CHP) project, the largest CHP project in the UK. Stephen also held roles at the London Climate Change Agency where he was responsible for the development of low carbon energy projects in London.
Sebastian Wurster – Investment Manager

Sebastian joined Principal Investments in 2016 in order to strengthen the commodities market expertise of the business. From 2009 to 2016, he headed several trading desks for commodities trading at RWE Supply & Trading. He has over ten years of experience in building up and managing extensive structured commodities portfolios. Before working for RWE Supply & Trading, Mr Wurster worked at Essent Trading International in Geneva (Head of Emissions Trading) and at Iberdrola Generación in Madrid (Electricity Trader). He studied international business at the Pforzheim University of Applied Sciences.

Portfolio

Examples of active investments

Investments in oil and gas lease agreements in the Permian Basin (US)

Ascent Energy is a Denver, Colorado, based oil and gas exploration and production company focused on acquiring and developing oil and gas leases in the Permian Basin of Texas and new Mexico.
Investments in an Australian coal mine

RWEST acquired a minority equity interest in Chain Valley Colliery in 2016, an operating underground coal mine in the Newcastle coalfields, New South Wales, Australia.
Blackhawk Mining (US)

Blackhawk Mining is a Lexington, Kentucky, headquartered company that operates 9 mining complexes in the US, producing thermal coal, PCI, stoker and metallurgical coal. The company has grown rapidly in recent years becoming a regional leader in coal mining and marketing.
REV LNG (US)

A Pennsylvania-based company whose activities include LNG sourcing, transportation, distribution and sales, in which RWE Principal Investments took an equity stake in 2014. REV LNG plans to develop multiple small scale LNG plants in the Marcellus region of Pennsylvania in order to expand its LNG fuel supply business.
Walden Green Energy (US)

A New York based developer of, and investor in, conventional renewable energy projects. RWE’s investment is facilitating the expansion of Walden’s renewable energy project pipeline across North America.
Stem (US)

Also in July 2015, Principal Investments took a minority equity position in Stem. Headquartered in Millbrae, California, Stem integrates advanced battery systems and predictive analytics software to simultaneously reduce electricity costs for its commercial and industrial customers, and, aggregating across the behind-the-meter battery network, deliver services to the grid. Stem has evolved as a market leader in the rapidly emerging advanced energy storage market and targets to continue on its growth trajectory in the US and abroad.
DBO Energy

DBO Energy is a Rio de Janeiro based oil company focusing on mature Brazilian off-shore assets. RWE Principal Investments has acquired an interest in 2018 to help the company to expand its asset base.

Examples of completed investments

Lynemouth Power (UK) – acquisition of a coal-fired power plant and conversion to biomass

RWE purchased the Lynemouth UK coal-fired power plant, in 2012, having developed an opportunity to convert it to biomass. The plant was originally dedicated to supply an aluminum smelter that has been closed, hence was no longer of strategic value for the previous owner, but a value enhancing deal for RWE based on UK market conditions and RWE’s experience of biomass conversion and coal/biomass trading. RWE gained a contract from UK government for the conversion, took it through a State Aid approval by the European Commission, and developed engineering contracts to create a “shovel ready” project, which it then sold to a strategic investor, EPH (Energetický a průmyslový holding), in January 2016.
Kencot Hill Solar Farm (UK) – project acquisition and construction financing

Principal Investments acquired Kencot Hill Solar Farm as shovel-ready 37 MW ground-mounted solar photovoltaic project on a former world war II airfield in Oxfordshire in April 2014. Acting as contractual intermediary between the initial project developer and the end investor Foresight Solar Fund, Principal Investments financed the construction and grid connection under an EPC turnkey contract with Conergy, and managed the project until accreditation by the regulator and the subsequent sale to Foresight in March 2015.
Goldboro LNG (Canada) – LNG infrastructure project

Participation in Canadian LNG export facility project, investment exited prior to construction phase.