Spark Infrastructure Group (ASX:SKI) will be removed from the S&P/ASX200 subject to final court approval of its acquisition by New South Wales private company Pika Bidco Pty Ltd.

The company’s shareholders approved the $5.2 billion takeover of the power grid operator by a consortium led by equity giant Kohlberg Kravis Roberts and the Ontario teachers pension fund.

SKI’s board of directors declared a special distribution of 12 cents per security yesterday, conditional on the schemes becoming effective and the implementation date being December 31, 2021, or earlier.

If the schemes become effective, the special distribution will reduce the cash consideration to be paid to Spark Infrastructure security holders by Pika Bidco under the Schemes from $2.8875 to $2.7675 per stapled security.

Spark Infrastructure has been advised by Goldman Sachs, Herbert Smith Freehills and A. Brown and Company.

Aurora Energy project receives development approval variation

1414 Degrees (ASX:14D) has been granted a variation to the existing development approval at its Aurora Energy Project by the South Australian Minister for Planning and Local Government.

The variation allows for the addition of a 140MW/280MWhr battery energy storage system (BESS), thermal energy storage and 33kV transmission line grid connection.

Also included is a modified site layout plan and project staging, on top of the 150MW Concentrated Solar Power (CSP), 70MW Solar Photo-Voltaic (PV) and 275kV connection to the network already approved.

14D says this is a key milestone in the advancement of the long-term renewable energy project.

The company is now looking to bring a partner in to participate and co-invest in the final development activities such as equipment selection and transmission studies.

AVL subsidiary targets electric vehicle charging

Australian Vanadium’s (ASX:AVL) 100% subsidiary, VSUN Energy, has tested an electric vehicle battery charge using renewable energy provided via a vanadium redox battery (VRFB).

The test involved the use of a 5kW-30kWh VRFB powered solely by solar energy and opens the way for vanadium battery based standalone electric vehicle (EV) charging stations anywhere in Australia.

VSUN Energy partnered with EV Singapore-based charging hardware and software provider Gemtek Group for the test.

Gemtek Group commercial manager Florian Popp said that Gemtek has tested a wide variety of power systems with their EV charging technologies.

“Developing expertise in integrated renewable energy EV charging solutions to suit Australian requirements for mining, agricultural and regional applications has been a key focus for Gemtek,” he said.

“The VSUN Energy storage system’s unique capabilities and operating life provide a substantial advantage in high temperature and remote environments”.

VSUN Energy is currently installing VRFBs into agricultural, commercial, mining and rural residential sites and is working to develop an urban residential battery for construction in Australia.

Evolution’s ESG commitment to sustainable graphite

Newly listed Evolution Energy Minerals (ASX:EV1) has adopted an environmental, social, and governance framework designed to ensure that Evolution is ‘investment ready’ for global investment funds ahead of a final investment decision in H2, 2022.

The company said the ESG framework will be applied across all aspects of its activities, particularly in relation to the financing and development of the Chilalo Graphite Project in Tanzania.

EV1 said it has engaged MinViro to assess the carbon footprint associated with the mining operation at Chilalo to investigate how a net zero carbon mining operation can be achieved.

It has also engaged Digbee, an on-demand data, research and ESG platform to provide a third party validated assessment of ESG performance.

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