The chairman of windpower investment fund Greencoat UK Wind has hailed the “exciting” opportunities ahead just weeks after his firm paid a maiden dividend to shareholders.
Tim Ingram praised the “continued good performance” of a portfolio which now includes generation capacity of more than 150MW and net assets valued at £263.8 million.
Investors received 1.5p equivalent to a total pay-out of six pence per share each year on September 20, in recognition of performance during the six months to the end of June.
Since then, Greencoat has paid £63.6m to add windfarms in Cambridgeshire and Essex to its existing portfolio of operational locations which includes Braes of Doune near Stirling and Carcant in the Scottish Borders.
The firm used a trading update to praise the UK Government for its plan to guarantee existing subsidy levels to the owners of operational wind arrays despite ongoing reform of the energy markets.
The company said it continues to anticipate “substantial” growth in the UK market, with further investment opportunities “at an attractive yield”.
“Since the announcement of our interim results we have paid our maiden dividend, grown net asset value to £263.8m and, importantly, we have completed our first acquisitions since listing,” Mr Ingram said.
“The opportunities lying ahead for Greencoat UK Wind are very exciting. There is a substantial pipeline of future acquisition opportunities in the UK market.
“We believe that the independent model the company has adopted, together with no leverage at the asset level, positions us well with utility and private vendors alike and will enable us to continue to add further wind farms to our portfolio at prices accretive to value.”
Investment manager Greencoat Capital has identified a short-to-medium term pipeline with a total combined capacity of 400MW, the fund said, and is negotiating and performing due diligence checks on “a number of interesting opportunities”.
The firm also hailed provisions made in the UK Government’s proposed Energy Bill making its way through parliament for the so-called “grandfathering” of subsidies paid under the Renewable Obligation subsidy regime.
It said the “important” principle would protect the support already on offer for operational wind projects.
Greencoat snapped up a string of wind assets, including a 50% interest in Braes of Doune, from Perth-based utility SSE in a deal worth £140m following its £260m floatation in March.
It also owns a 24.95% stake in RWE’s Rhyl Flats offshore array, an investment matched by the UK Green Investment Bank.
In turn, SSE was one of the cornerstone investors when Greencoat launched its IPO, alongside the UK Department for Business Innovation and Skills.
Stock in the group, which listed earlier this year, closed yesterday down 0.25p at 105.00.