Renewables Infrastructure buys Clahane wind farm – The Board of The Renewables Infrastructure Group Limited (TRIG) has announced that it has completed the acquisition of a 41.2MW operational wind farm (“Clahane 1”) and its 13.8MW extension which is currently under construction (“Clahane extension”).
The project is located in County Kerry in the Republic of Ireland. Clahane 1 was commissioned in 2008 and is comprised of 20 Enercon E70 turbines. The Clahane extension includes a further six Enercon E70 turbines and is due to become fully operational in the third quarter of 2018. The project benefits from 15-year upward-only, inflation-linked Feed-in Tariff revenues, with six years remaining on Clahane 1.
The total consideration is approximately EUR72 million which includes construction spending to the turbine manufacturer, together with an element of deferred consideration to the vendor contingent on the completion of certain critical construction milestones for the Clahane extension. TRIG’s investment has been nanced using its revolving acquisition facility. The project has been acquired from a consortium of private investors and has no third-party project debt.
The company’s net portfolio generating capacity (pro rata to its equity interests and following the completion of its construction assets) amounts to 876 MW. Of the overall portfolio, approximately 3% by value constitutes projects under construction.
Extension of Revolving Acquisition Facility
The company has an active pipeline of further projects under review for potential acquisition. In order to fund further acquisitions, the group has increased the size of its revolving acquisition facility from GBP150 million to GBP240 million. Alongside the group’s existing lenders, Royal Bank of Scotland plc and National Australia Bank Limited, ING Group are providing additional lending capacity. The facility continues to operate on the same terms with the expiry date unchanged at 30 September 2019.
Following the investment in the Clahane wind farm, TRIG is GBP148 million drawn on its revolving acquisition facility with GBP23 million of further construction and deferred payments expected to be made during 2018.
Richard Crawford, Director, Infrastructure at InfraRed Capital Partners, said: “TRIG is delighted to have secured this significant additional project which provides long-term, stable feed-in-tariff revenues in the Republic of Ireland. By increasing its revolving acquisition facility, TRIG has enhanced its ability to access capital quickly and efficiently in order to capitalise on its promising pipeline.”
TRIG : Renewables Infrastructure buys Clahane wind farm