John Laing Environmental Assets has bought two solar plants for £20.37m.
Monksham Solar is located near Frome in Somerset, with a total generating capacity of 10.7MW and is accredited for 1.6 ROCs. John Laing Environmental Assets has bought all its ‘B’ shares plus other economic interests from the founding shareholders and Green Nation, the developers of the park. JLEN will take over operational management of the project. They have also provided a loan to the project to repay construction finance. The ‘A’ shareholders, investors under the Enterprise Investment Scheme, remain invested in the project.
In March 2015, John Laing Environmental Assets acquired a 64% stake in Branden Solar which comprises two separate solar parks located near Bodmin in Cornwall, with a total generating capacity of 14.7MW and is accredited for 2 ROCs. The sites have been operational since June 2013. The Company has now acquired the remaining 36% stake under its First Offer Agreement with John Laing.
They say the acquisition prices for both assets reflect the recent budgetary changes and the removal of the Climate Change Levy exemption for renewable electricity. The assets are unaffected by recent DECC announcements regarding proposed changes to the Renewables Obligation that may impact future solar development. The acquisitions were funded using the net issue proceeds from the recent fundraising and, following the repayment of amounts drawn on the Company’s revolving credit facility, the net issue proceeds have been fully invested. These acquisitions bring the total capacity of the renewable energy assets in the JLEN portfolio to 103.1MW.
JLEN : John Laing Environmental buys two more solar projects