LONDON, UK: Octopus Renewables Infrastructure Trust plc (ORIT), a leading investor in renewable energy assets, has announced that it has agreed to invest up to £2m to set up and fund a new development business, focused on creating new ground-mounted solar PV and co-located battery storage assets in the UK.

ORIT will own 100% of the new company, which will benefit from exclusive development services from BLC Energy Limited (BLCe), a newly formed specialist developer managed by a team of industry veterans with deep knowledge of the UK electricity grid, as well as significant experience in securing land for building new renewable energy projects.

ORIT will initially invest £0.7m, with an expected total investment of up to £2m to support the development costs of the business until the end of 2025. The new venture will target an initial pipeline of over 350MW of projects in development, with land rights and grid connection offers expected to be secured making the projects suitable for sale or further development.

ORIT will have the exclusive right to provide further funding to bring the initial pipeline to ready-to-build status between 2025 and 2029 by securing planning permissions and any other relevant consents, along with preferential rights to provide development funding to new pipeline identified by BLCe. ORIT will also have the option to build or sell all projects developed for the business by BLCe once ready-to-build.

Phil Austin, Chairman of Octopus Renewables Infrastructure Trust plc, commented: “This latest investment into a new development platform for solar PV and battery storage assets is an exciting addition to ORIT’s portfolio. Investing in the early stages of creating new renewable energy projects brings huge growth opportunities for ORIT, both from value creation through successfully delivering projects, and from the exclusive opportunity to invest into the construction of the sites once they are ready to build.

“We are delighted to be working with BLC Energy to develop a large pipeline of impactful green energy projects that will help accelerate the energy transition and deliver clean, affordable, secure energy for decades to come.”

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