LONDON: Greencoat UK Wind, renewable infrastructure fund invested in 36 operating UK wind farms with net generating capacity of 998MW, has agreed to acquire Slieve Divena II wind farm from SSE Renewables for a consideration of £51 million.
Slieve Divena II is located approximately 10 miles south east of Omagh in County Tyrone, Northern Ireland, and has a capacity of 18.8MW. Slieve Divena II was constructed by SSE Renewables and has been operational since June 2017. The wind farm receives 0.9 ROCs per MWh and has a load factor of 31.3%.
Slieve Divena II is adjacent to UKW’s Slieve Divena wind farm, which was acquired by the Company in August 2017, and will also be managed by SSE Renewables. As with Slieve Divena, SSE Airtricity (SSE’s retail brand in Northern Ireland) will be the offtaker under a long-term power purchase agreement.
Tim Ingram, Chairman of UKW, commented: “We are delighted to acquire our eighth wind farm from SSE, which is testament to the longstanding relationship we have developed. Slieve Divena II is a high quality, ROC-accredited asset sitting alongside our Slieve Divena wind farm and is a natural addition to our portfolio of operating UK wind farms, which now has a net generating capacity of almost 1GW.”
The acquisition was funded by UKW’s acquisition facility plus reinvestment of portfolio cash of £24m. Following the acquisition, UKW’s total borrowings will amount to £627 million (£600m under term debt facilities plus £27m under the revolving credit facility), equivalent to 25% of Gross Asset Value (gearing limit 40%).