The 45MWp Bann Road solar farm in Northern Ireland is among the sites to have been acquired by Greencoat Capital with its second solar fund. Image: Baywa r.e.
Baywa r.e. has completed the sale of its entire UK solar portfolio after agreeing a deal with Greencoat Capital, which has acquired the German group’s last 75MWp of solar farms.
The acquisitions come almost a year after Greencoat made its first purchases from Baywa r.e. when it bought up three assets with a combined capacity of 30MW using its Greencoat Solar I LP vehicle.
Greencoat Solar II LP, which sourced £262 million from a number of large corporate pensions schemes in the UK, has been used to buy up Baywa r.e.’s remaining portfolio, including the 45MW Bann Road solar farm, the largest to have been realised so far in Northern Ireland and on the island of Ireland.
The purchase also includes six 5MW solar farms spread across England and Wales.
| Project | Capacity | Location |
|---|---|---|
| Bann Road | 45MWp | 50km north-east of Belfast |
| Berthllwyd | 5MWp | near Cardiff |
| Bilsborrow | 5MWp | 50km north of Liverpool |
| Bodwen | 5MWp | 50km west of Plymouth |
| Ebnal Lodge | 5MWp | 50 km south of Liverpool |
| Hunger Hill | 5MWp | near Middlesbrough |
| Sandhutton | 5MWp | 50 km north of Leeds |
Matthias Taft, board member of BayWa AG responsible for the energy business, said: “We are extremely pleased to see our well-established relationship with Greencoat continue with the sale of these solar farms.
“We have established a highly desirable reputation for acquiring and developing some of the most successful renewable energy projects in Europe and through our operation and maintenance teams, ensuring they continue to operate at peak efficiency. This makes us attractive to developers looking to partner and investors looking to acquire.”
BayWa r.e. will continue to provide operations and maintenance services at the sites, utilising the expertise of Green Hedge’s UK O&M division which the developer acquired at the start of the year.
“While this sale is of our remaining UK portfolio of solar projects, we remain very active in the UK market through our growing solar operations maintenance business, based in Milton Keynes, which has seen significant growth this year,” Taft added.