NextEnergy Solar secures £60 million increase to NatWest and AIB credit facility

NextEnergy Solar Fund (NESF) has secured a £60 million increase to its Revolving Credit Facility (RCF) with AIB and NatWest.

This provides a boost to the RCF via an increase from £75 million to £135 million. The facility provides a cost-efficient funding with flexibility on drawdowns and repayments. It also increases the fund's total RCF capacity to £205 million.

The specialist solar and energy storage climate impact fund has a combined capacity of 865MW and is continuing its expansion into the renewable space. The fund announced in July it had also extended its existing £70 million revolving credit facility (RCF) with Santander UK.

At the time, Ross Grier, UK managing director of NextEnergy Capital, commented: “The £70m RCF extension builds on our successful relationship with Santander and provides NESF with the continued firepower to take advantage of the attractive investment opportunities we are pursuing. The facility was secured on attractive terms, given the backdrop of inflation and rising interest rates.”

The additional commitments have been agreed on what the companies have described as “attractive terms” with a margin of 120bps over Sterling Overnight Index Average (SONIA), available until June 2024. It is hoped that this will add firepower to the fund in order to spearhead its renewable developments.

“The £60m increase in the AIB and NatWest revolving credit facility provides the Company with sufficient headroom to secure solar and battery storage optionality within the immediate pipeline.  We have also secured attractive terms considering the current macro environment,” said Ross Grier, UK managing director of NextEnergy Capital.

As of 29 September 2022, the company had £89.5m available for drawdown from all its RCFs to progress its immediate pipeline of solar farms and battery storage assets.

NextEnergy Solar Fund has been continuing to expand its portfolio in the UK, hitting a 100 asset milestone earlier this year. It has also begun expanding internationally through NextPower III LP, taking its first step into the Spanish market in Q1 2022, through a co-investment transaction that saw it take on a 25% stake in a 50MW project under construction in Cádiz.