NextEnergy Solar offloads 50 MW solar farm asset

The £30.3 million sale is part of NextEnergy Solar Fund’s capital recycling programme.

The Staughton solar farm, located in Bedfordshire, is a subsidy-free utility scale solar asset that has been operational since 2019.

Proceeds from the deal will be used to reduce the NextEnergy Solar Fund's drawn short-term debt via its revolving credit facilities.

NextPower UK ESG Fund, is a 10 year closed-ended private fund.

Staughton is the fund’s twelfth asset, taking its portfolio capacity to 565 MW.

The fund has 178 MW of operating solar assets and co-located energy storage in the UK, making a tangible difference in providing clean generation to the UK’s energy mix.

It has a further 387 MW of solar and energy storage projects in construction or ready-to-build, alongside further near-term acquisitions in its pipeline.

Spyros Sfantos, Investment Director UK, NextEnergy Capital, said: “Staughton is a high-quality operating solar asset that represents NPUK’s twelfth portfolio acquisition.

“NPUK’s total capacity has grown to an impressive 565 MW since its launch in August 2022, we expect to see further growth in NPUK’s total capacity through the end of the year and into 2025 through further acquisitions. NPUK remains on track to outperform its return and dividend targets, with dividends to date being significantly above the target.”

In its interim results for the period ended 30 September 2024, NextEnergy solar farm reported a net asset value (NAV) per ordinary share of 97.8p (31 March 2024 104.7p).

The fund generated income of £45 million over the six-month period (30 September 2023, £50 million).

For more news and technical articles from the global renewable industry, read the latest issue of Energy Global magazine.

Energy Global's Autumn 2024 issue

Dive into the latest renewable energy insights in the Autumn issue of Energy Global, out now! The issue starts with an insightful guest comment from Cristiano Spillati, Managing Director at Limes Renewable Energy where he discusses the need for European renewable energy suppliers to accelerate the rate of the energy transition. This is followed by a regional report from Cornwall Insights on the battery energy storage industry in Australia. This issue explores key topics including offshore wind subsea cables, offshore wind support vessels, digitalisation, wind turbine components, and more!

Read the article online at: https://www.energyglobal.com/solar/21112024/nextenergy-solar-offloads-50-mw-solar-farm-asset/