Greencoat UK Wind adds 29.9-MW wind farm to portfolio

Greencoat UK Wind Plc (LON:UKW) said today it has agreed to buy the 29.9-MW Stroupster wind farm in Caithness, Scotland, bringing its net generating capacity to 301.4 MW.

The UK wind investor is acquiring the facility from BayWa re renewable energy GmbH, a subsidiary of German group BayWa AG (ETR:BYW6), for GBP 85 million (USD 128.6m/EUR 121m), excluding cash balances. The deal, due to close within days, includes repayment of existing debt, with the price subject to adjustment based on a two-year energy production assessment.

This is the fourth wind farm that Greencoat UK Wind has bought from BayWa re, which will now operate seven wind farms in the fund's portfolio.

The facility, developed by Npower Renewables and built by BayWa, was commissioned in October 2015 and will receive 0.9 (Renewables Obligation Certificates) ROCs per MWh.

The purchase will be funded by the company's acquisition debt facility. Following a GBP-50-million fundraise completed yesterday, the fund will have outstanding debt of GBP 135 million, an estimated 20% of gross asset value.

"We continue to pursue other near term acquisition opportunities, but remain disciplined in only executing on opportunities that deliver attractive investment returns, consistent with our existing portfolio," said chairman Tim Ingram.

(GBP 1.0 = USD 1.512/EUR 1.424)

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