Greencoat UK Wind has announced the acquisition of 50.6MW of wind farms from the Irish Infrastructure Fund for £87m.
Image: Greencoat UK Wind acquires 50MW wind farms in Ireland. Photo courtesy of andrew sim/Freeimages.com.
Church Hill and Crighshane are the wind farms acquired by Greencoat UK Wind from the fund which is jointly managed by AMP Capital and Irish Life Investment Managers, and from the Viridian Group.
The transaction amount includes the prepayment of existing project finance debt facilities.
Located 25.7km north west of Omagh in County Tyrone, Northern Ireland, the Church Hill wind farm has a capacity of 18.4MW.
Crighshane has a capacity of 32.2MW and is located 32km north west of Omagh in County Tyrone.
Operating since July 2012, the two wind farms are equipped with Enercon E70 turbines.
UKW chairman Tim Ingram said: “We are very pleased with our latest acquisitions – high quality ROC accredited wind farms with a strong operating track record, which will deliver an attractive investment return to our investors. The portfolio as a whole now provides sufficient electricity to power over 750,000 homes.”
The company has funded the acquisition through its revolving credit facility (£80m) plus reinvestment of group cash (£7m ).
In October, Greencoat UK Wind entered into an agreement to acquire Belltown Power’s 75% stake in Tom nan Clach wind farm for £126m.
Located in Nairnshire, Scotland, the wind farm was in the final stages of construction. It was originally developed by Infinergy.
Upon completion, the wind farm will comprise 13 Vestas V112 turbines, restricted to 39.1MW connection capacity.
The stake acquisition is scheduled to complete in July 2019, 30 days after the commencement of commercial operations at the wind farm.
The wind project is expected to benefit from a 15 year Contract for Difference (CFD) of £91.14.
At the time of acquisition announcement, Greencoat Capital’s Stephen Lilley said: “Since our launch in 2013, we have built up a high-quality portfolio with net generating capacity of 785MW, through a disciplined and steady approach to acquisitions.
“We are starting to see attractive CFD and subsidy-free investment opportunities, of which Tom nan Clach is our first.”