Why BlackRock for Local Government Pension Schemes (LGPS)?

Capital at risk. The value of investments and the income from them can fall as well as rise and are not guaranteed. Investors may not get back the amount originally invested.

Why BlackRock for LGPS?

Our LGPS clients are a priority group for BlackRock, having managed their assets for almost 50 years. Today, BlackRock manages over £24 billion of assets for 55 schemes and 7 pools.¹ We strive to provide the highest level of service and have built a 6-person dedicated team to maintain/service relationships at the Pools and the Schemes.

Our LGPS clients have allocated their assets across BlackRock’s passive, active and alternative investment platforms in addition to leveraging our transition capabilities as they transfer their assets to their Pools. We aim to work closely with the client to ensure that they achieve their respective investment objectives through our products and solutions as well as fulfilling their operational requirements. For this, transparency and communication with the client within an agreed process-driven framework is paramount to its success.

We recognise the increasing demand for reporting, disclosure and transparency and work with our clients to ensure these are delivered in an efficient manner.

Commitment to education and training

We hold a variety of dedicated local authority events throughout the year, where we seek to share our insights to broaden our clients’ knowledge. These include conferences, smaller training sessions and online training. We also provide free training to Investment Panel members on a wide variety of topics to educate and inform our clients on key investment issues facing local authority pension funds.

Source: BlackRock as of 31 December 2023.

Watch: Investing in the UK's transition to a low- carbon economy

We’re visiting companies we invest in, on behalf of our clients, to see how they are developing innovative solutions that could transform their industries right here in the UK. Watch the videos to learn more about synchronous compensators and smart meter technologies.

Peter Raftery:

A reliable and efficient electricity grid is a cornerstone of modern life,

and the UK has embarked on an ambitious plan to transition to a net zero emission electricity grid.

That transition requires why the use of renewable domestic sources like wind and solar, as well as deeper changes to how the grid operate.

And we're investing in that transformation.

This evolution must take place without compromising the stability of the power grid.

And that's why a technology known as a synchronous compensator comes in.

It's essentially a large rotating motor that works like a shock absorber for the grid.

By maintaining the voltage levels and frequency, the grid needs to run smoothly.

On behalf of our clients. We're investing in a new synchronous compensator at the Black Hill substation in Scotland,¹

adjacent to the substation for the Beatrice Offshore Wind farm, one of the largest in Scotland, with 84 operational turbines.²

The investment will benefit from a ten year inflation linked contract³

that that's part of the National Grid Electricity system.

Operator Stability Pathfinder two Program.

This is the single largest contract in the program and accounts for 60% of the local short circuit level requirement in Scotland.⁴ and a significant portion of the system inertia support for the wider GBE grid.

The synchronous compensator is an investment in the people who live and work here and in the economic future of this region. Much of the technology that's essential to the ongoing evolution of the UK's power grid is produced right here in the UK.

at GE Verona’s Factory in Rugby

Andy Cooper:

A synchronous condenser sits alongside power grid in areas where a grid might be a little unstable, and it can provide energy into the grid, whether that's short circuit capability or inertia to help prop up the grid.

So they're especially useful in areas where the grid is dependent on a higher mix of renewable energy.

And as we know, with solar, with wind, weather can change conditions. these machines can help to keep that grid stable in a kind of way. They replicate the big generators that used to exist in those thermal power plants.

the more and more renewable energy that comes onto the grid, the more we're going to need solutions like synchronous condensers.

I think the really good thing about them is that they're quick to build. We can deploy them at scale around the UK at relatively small sites and we can position them close to where the grid instability is.

if we take the project, we first started talking to customer back in middle of 2022 and we got into contract a little bit later that year. The first machine has left the factory today, it'll take until Q4 of this year to bring it online, fully installed, fully commission.⁵

So, if you put all that together, it's around two and a half years from really starting to talk seriously about it, to get it into operation.

these machines used to be used for power generation from fossil fuels in the oil and gas market. We're repurposing that design and we are reusing it alongside power grids to support the path to net zero.

It's already proven.

So, it's low risk. It's something we can deploy into the field quickly and at scale. sitting here in Rugby. We're really the last factory of this with this size capability in the UK. I think it's extremely important for the UK to develop the sort of solution domestically within our shores, build their skills, build that capability.

and build the future.

The futures electric.

¹ Source: BlackRock as of 22^nd February 2024
² Source: BlackRock as of 22^nd February 2024
³ Source: BlackRock as of 22^nd February 2024
⁴ Source: BlackRock as of 22^nd February 2024
⁵ Source: BlackRock as of 22^nd February 2024

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