It is no surprise that since the good news about the future of the UK’s feed-in tariff was revealed there have been several announcements about renewable energy projects across the country. In line with this trend, installer Solarcentury has received financial support from Investment management firm Foresight Group.
Update: Foresight has set up a £40 million fund to spend on the PV plants, which equates to 15-16MW of generating capacity, the investor said.
“We want to deploy the £40 million as quickly as possible to make full use of feed-in tariff at the highest level, which will possibly reduce from March 2012,” Foresight's Investment Manager, Giles Whitman said.
“We will fully fund projects to lock in the tariff, then we will look to refinance to bring debt in.”
He also said Foresight was hoping to leverage the fund over time to around £200 million which would build around 80MW of solar power capacity.
This kind of project is expected to become more apparent in the country as utility-scale investors rush to benefit from the generous FiT rate before it is cut in 2013.
The investment will come from the Foresight Solar venture capital trust (VCT), the firm’s third dedicated solar fund. Foresight partner Jamie Richards, who manages Foresight’s solar funds said, “Having built utility scale PV plants in southern Europe, we understand the importance of working with experienced contractors with a track record of delivering high quality power plants. The bankability of the contractor is key to enhancing returns through re-financings and exit.”
Derry Newman, CEO of Solarcentury said, “Rapid deployment is important in this sector, and we value working with experienced investors who understand the nature of PV installation contracts; this allows us to focus on identifying suitable opportunities and accelerating the roll out of PV.”
Solarcentury has previously made its name in the residential and commercial rooftop market. The company now has 100 staff across the UK, France, Italy and Spain, turning over £34.5 million in 2010.
