Octopus Renewables Infrastructure Trust (ORIT) has acquired four newly-constructed solar farms located close to Dublin, Ireland for a total cost of €160m. The solar complex totals 199MW and was acquired from Statkraft Ireland Limited, which developed and constructed the projects under ORIT’s oversight. Following the acquisition, ORIT’s total capacity of operational renewable energy assets reaches 735MW and the sites generate enough green energy to power around 50,000 homes (avoiding the equivalent of around 60,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions every year).
As announced in November 2022, Microsoft has entered into a 15-year Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) to offtake the electricity produced at the solar farms, securing future revenue for ORIT from the solar complex.
A fifth site coming soon
A nearby fifth site totaling 42MW is currently under construction and is expected to become operational during the third quarter of 2024 and, under a similar arrangement to the first four sites, ORIT will acquire this project once it becomes operational.
The first four farms solar farms entered commercial operations in late December 2023 and the purchase was in part financed using a €80.6m debt facility provided by Allied Irish Banks and La Banque Postale. It is expected that the remaining site purchase will be partly funded through an increase to the debt facility by up to €25.8m, which has been pre-agreed with the lenders.
Comments from Phil Austin, Chairman of ORIT
“We are pleased to have completed this substantial acquisition, which sees ORIT become the owner of Ireland’s largest solar complex which will deliver a substantial amount of green electricity. Projects like this are vital to accelerating the journey to net zero. We have been delighted to partner with Statkraft as a highly experienced developer and Microsoft as the offtaker.”