Octopus buys 149 MW of UK onshore wind

Funds managed by Octopus Investments Ltd have acquired a 149-MW onshore wind portfolio in the UK from renewable energy company Blue Energy, it was announced today.

The assets in the portfolio include the 109-MW Beinneun Project, 21-MW Cour, 12.3-MW Grange, and 6.9-MW Hillhead of Auquhirie wind power plants. Eligible for ROCs under the Renewables Obligation (RO) programme, the wind farms are estimated to produce together as much power as some 125,000 households consume annually.

The existing external debt will be retained in all four cases and Blue Energy will continue to manage the assets.

Octopus Investments said the acquisition supports its ambition to become “the industry's leading generator and supplier of clean energy in the UK”. The asset management firm’s latest renewable energy fund, Renewable Energy Income Partnership (REIP), recently closed at about GBP 300 million (USD 391m/EUR 340m). Octopus also recently secured GBP 484 million of debt finance for UK solar assets.

KPMG acted as financial adviser for Blue Energy in the deal, with legal support from Watson Farley & Williams and Pinsent Masons. Octopus were advised by CMS in legal matters, PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) in financial and tax diligence, and Natural Power on the technical side.

The clean energy business of Wood Group, known as SgurrEnergy until recently, completed the vendor’s technical due dilligence and updated operational wind reports.

(GBP 1 = USD 1.3/EUR 1.13)

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