Savills has announced the freehold investment opportunity for a 9.34MW solar farm on behalf of the Tom Duke Life Interest Trust.
Located between London and Cambridge in Royston, Hertfordshire, the site was originally commissioned in September 2014.
The fully operational freehold investment opportunity comprises approximately 41.95 acres. The base rent for the calendar year 2023 was £71,199, and the net royalty rent was £76,174, making the total combined rent £147,117.
The lease was entered into in 2014 and runs to 2039, with a five-year option extension. The tenant is an established investor in renewables with a portfolio of similar schemes in the UK.
Henry Grant, a member of Savills Energy’s infrastructure and renewables team, said: “With the UK aiming for renewable energy to reach half of all energy consumed by 2030, there has been a steep rise in the demand for land suitable to host renewable energy developments across the nation.
“Wisbridge Solar Farm is a solid investment opportunity with strong fundamentals, including a robust rental income stream and reliable, experienced tenant. We are expecting a high number of enquiries from investors.”
Savill’s solar history
In 2018, it was announced that a shared project between Savills and Elgin Energy was approved for construction at a former RAF airfield.
At the time, the 50MW solar farm was Scotland’s largest consented solar project and was expected to be fully operational in the first half of the 2020s.
The development went into planning in August 2017 and is the first solar project to be approved by the Energy Consents Unit (ECU) of the Scottish government. The ECU rules on projects of 50MW or greater in output.
Owing to “the scale and complexity” of the project, the ECU has allowed a five-year timescale for the commencement of development.
Unlike the majority of subsidy-free solar farms entering the development screening process, the planning and decision documents for Elgin’s project make no mention of energy storage, instead relying on its scale of capacity to be commercially viable.
The company previously described the project’s size as “symptomatic of the changing support regime for projects of this kind.”
Ronan Kilduff, managing director of Elgin Energy, said: “This large-scale project is the fruition of the commitment and vision between Elgin Energy, Innes Estate, Scottish and Southern Energy Power Distribution, National Grid, Savills and the rest of our professional support team.”
Solar Power Portal’s publisher, Solar Media, will host the UK Solar Summit on 4-5 June 2024 in London. The event will explore the UK’s new landscape for utility and rooftop solar, looking at the opportunities within a GW+ annual market and much more.