Foresight Solar buys 15 solar assets – Foresight Solar Fund Limited has completed the acquisition of a 100% interest in a portfolio of 15 operational solar assets in the UK with a total installed capacity of 114 MW for approximately £47m, including the benefit of all cash flows from the portfolio since 1 April 2018.
This deal will be funded by the net proceeds of the oversubscribed fundraise of approximately £48.1m completed in July this year.
A further three assets remain under exclusivity and will be subject to further due diligence before the assets can be acquired. All the assets are accredited under the RO scheme, receiving a weighted average of 1.41 ROCs/MWh.
The assets in the portfolio include:
- Trehawke (Cornwall, 10.6MW), commissioned in March 2014 and received ROC accreditation of 1.6ROCs/MWh;
- Homeland (Dorset, 13.2MW), commissioned in March 2014 and received ROC accreditation of 1.6ROCs/MWh;
- Steventon (Oxfordshire, 10.0MW), commissioned in June 2014 and received ROC accreditation of 1.4ROCs/MWh;
- Welbeck (Nottinghamshire, 11.3MW), commissioned in July 2014 and received ROC accreditation of 1.4ROCs/MWh;
- Tengore Lane (Somerset, 3.6MW), commissioned in February 2015 and received ROC accreditation of 1.4ROCs/MWh;
- Cuckoo Grove (Pembrokeshire, 6.1MW), commissioned in March 2015 and received ROC accreditation of 1.4ROCs/MWh;
- Field House (Hampshire, 6.4MW), commissioned in March 2015 and received ROC accreditation of 1.4ROCs/MWh;
- Gedling (Nottinghamshire, 5.7MW), commissioned in March 2015 and received ROC accreditation of 1.4ROCs/MWh;
- Marsh Farm (Wiltshire, 9.1MW), commissioned in March 2015 and received ROC accreditation of 1.4ROCs/MWh;
- Abergelli (South Wales, 7.7MW), commissioned in March 2015 and received ROC accreditation of 1.4ROCs/MWh;
- Upper Huntingford (Gloucestershire, 7.7MW), commissioned in October 2015 and received ROC accreditation of 1.3ROCs/MWh;
- Yarburgh (Lincolnshire, 8.1MW), commissioned in November 2015 and received ROC accreditation of 1.3ROCs/MWh;
- Sheepbridge (Reading, 5.0MW), commissioned in December 2015 and received ROC accreditation of 1.3ROCs/MWh;
- Crow Trees (Nottinghamshire, 4.7MW), commissioned in March 2016 and received ROC accreditation of 1.3ROCs/MWh;
- Fields Farm (Warwickshire, 5.0MW), commissioned in March 2016 and received ROC accreditation of 1.3ROCs/MWh;
The company’s total installed capacity is now 788MW across 43 solar assets which is expected to drive efficiencies of scale in terms of ongoing operational costs. The portfolio was previously owned by funds managed by Foresight Group LLP. All assets have been in operation for a minimum period of two years and have been managed by Foresight Group’s in-house asset management team, which will continue to manage the assets. This portfolio currently has debt facilities in place totaling £107.2m provided by the Royal Bank of Scotland. It is their intention to refinance the portfolio and other UK assets within the next 12 months.
Commenting on the acquisition, Alex Ohlsson, chairman, said: “This is both a strategic and a significant acquisition for the company, which sees us become the largest UK-listed dedicated solar energy investment company by installed capacity. The acquisition will be NAV-accretive and will further underpin our sustainable, long-term dividend policy. We are pleased to be delivering against our focused acquisition strategy and in accordance with the expected timetable.”
FSFL : Foresight Solar buys 15 solar assets