Bluefield Solar Income (BSIF), the £403m renewable infrastructure fund that put itself up for sale in November, has said over 90% of its development projects have received grid connection dates from the National Energy System Operator (NESO).
Of these, 600MW, or half of BSIF’s 1.3GW pipeline, have been given Gate 2, Phase 1 offers by NESO, which has overhauled its connection backlog and prioritised projects deemed “ready to go”.
This means the projects have confirmed connection dates ranging from this year up to 2030, making them the most attractive for potential buyers.
BSIF said the first wave comprised of 540MW solar and 120MW battery storage projects.
A further 42% or 560MW of projects under construction had received Gate 2, Phase 2 offers with connection dates between 2031-35. These were split between 185MW solar and 370MW battery storage.
The remaining 9% of 125MW battery projects had only been allocated Gate 1 status, meaning they will have to re-apply for new NESO offers to re-enter the grid queue. The company confirmed they were currently valued at zero.
“The success of the grid reform process is testament to the strategy designed and implemented by the investment adviser and has resulted in the company having a highly valuable pipeline,” BSIF said of its manager Bluefield Partners, which is also included in the strategic review announced two months ago.
BSIF said the review and sales process were continuing in line with expectations and it would provide an update at half-year results in early March.
Shares in BSIF gained 2.2% to 69.5p as investor hopes rose of a positive outcome. Having spiked on news of the strategic review on 5 November, the stock had drifted lower. It currently stands on a 40% discount to net asset value, offering a high 13% dividend yield.
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James Carthew, head of investment company research at QuotedData, said: “For Bluefield Solar getting clarity on where its projects sit within the National Energy System Operator’s plans removes a significant uncertainty from any assessment of the value of the business. This should hopefully be reflected in the bids for the company.”
