Bluefield Solar buys 93.2-MW solar and wind portfolio in UK

Bluefield Solar Income Fund Ltd (LON:BSIF) on Wednesday said it has acquired a 93.2-MWp portfolio of operational solar and wind assets in the UK from an unnamed UK-based fund manager for an equity consideration of GBP 112.4 million (USD 138.6m/EUR 131.3m).

The portfolio includes 64.9 MWp of solar capacity across 15 photovoltaic (PV) plants and 28.3 MWp of wind capacity across four wind farms. The facilities are located across England, Wales, Northern Ireland and Scotland. Five of the solar projects receive feed-in-tariffs and 10 get Renewable Obligation Certificates (ROCs), while all of the wind farms are accredited under the ROC regime. The income fund said that the proportion of fixed and regulated revenues from the portfolio is expected to be about 57% in the period 2021-2035.

The purchase has been initially financed via the company's new and enlarged GBP-100-million revolving credit facility, provided by RBS International and Santander UK. The credit facility has been extended to May 2024 and has a new accordion tranche of up to another GBP 100 million.

Bluefield Solar also plans to raise new equity under its existing placing programme, along with an offer for subscription. New ordinary shares will be issued at a price of GBP 1.3 apiece. The proceeds will go towards paying down the firm's revolving credit facility, which is currently fully drawn at GBP 200 million, and to pursue its investment pipeline.

The acquisition brings the fund’s installed capacity to 766 MWp. It also has a development portfolio of over 600 MWp, including 108 MWp of shovel-ready solar projects and 125 MW of ready-to-build battery storage projects.

"This, the Company's largest portfolio acquisition to date, not only marks our third purchase of operational wind assets within twelve months, but also adds a very attractively sized portfolio of highly regulated solar assets with a substantial proportion of inflation linked revenues to the company's significant existing portfolio,” commented Bluefield Solar chairman John Rennocks.

(GBP 1 = USD 1.233/EUR 1.168)

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