Investment trust insider on windfall taxes – James Carthew: Windfall tax confusion shows UK is a risk for renewables investors
It was good to see Bluefield Solar Income (BSIF) announce it had managed to raise £150m in an oversubscribed share issue before the Jubilee holiday. This follows a similar-sized fundraise by Gresham House Energy Storage (GRID).
I had been concerned that uncertainty over a windfall tax on renewable energy generators might derail the BSIF issue altogether. In the event, the shares are trading at a modest premium to the 130p issue price and to the last published NAV.
The money raised has helped repay most of the company’s revolving credit facility, which had been maxed out following the £112m acquisition of a portfolio of 15 solar and four wind assets earlier in May. BSIF will now focus on its pipeline of development opportunities, which includes 108MWp of new solar and 125MW of battery storage.
BSIF pushed back the closing date for its fundraise after its share price was knocked by rumours, later confirmed, that the government was considering extending the scope of its energy profits levy to include renewable energy generators.
Other funds were affected too. For example, shares in Greencoat UK Wind (UKW) fell from…
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