Bluefield European Solar Fund (BESF) has postponed its initial public offering as a result of “unfavourable market conditions”.
The investment vehicle, formed by Bluefield Solar Invest Fund advisors Bluefield Partners, had set out its intentions to raise €200 million (£142 million) on the London Stock Exchange to invest in solar projects just two weeks ago, but confirmed the plans had been pulled in a statement issued this morning.
“We have taken the decision to postpone the initial public offering in light of unfavourable market conditions. We remain confident of our offer, however, now is not the opportune moment,” said James Armstrong, managing partner at Bluefield Partners.
The announcement comes little more than a week after the Department for Energy and Climate Change (DECC) submitted proposals to end Renewable Obligation support for sub-5MW projects a year earlier than planned and remove grandfathering rights, a move which would allow the government to alter subsidy support for such projects as and when deemed necessary.
DECC’s proposals – which are under consultation until 2 September – have created even more uncertainty within the UK renewables market, compounding an unsteady start to the new Conservative government that threatens to seriously affect investor confidence.
So far the Conservatives have also cut subsidy support for onshore wind, cancelled the Green Deal without a replacement, decided not to proceed with the Zero Carbon Homes initiative and looked to cancel pre-accreditation for small-scale feed-in tariff support.
This week has seen the launch of Solar Power Portal’s ‘Building a British solar future’ campaign, aimed at responding to the government’s “big reset” of green subsidies with a proactive and pragmatic approach that can help the industry on its path to a sustainable future.