Written by Mark Lammey
SSE will sell a 49.9% stake in two Scottish wind farms to a renewable
infrastructure fund for £635 million.
The deal involves the 66 turbine Stronelairg wind farm near Fort Augustus
and the 33 turbine Dunmaglass development, 15 miles south of Inverness.
The stakes equate to 160.6 megawatts of capacity.
Buyer Greencoat UK Wind (UKW) is run by Greencoat Capital, a leading
European renewable investment manager, with over £3 billion of assets under
management.
SSE will continue to operate both wind farms with Vestas and GE providing
turbine operation and maintenance.
The transaction is expected to go through by the end of March 2019.
SSE intends to use up to £200m of the proceeds to fund a discretionary
share buyback.
Gregor Alexander, SSE’s finance director, said: “Both Stronelairg and
Dunmaglass are a testament to SSE’s ability to design, develop, construct
and operate first class renewable energy assets.
“Onshore wind makes a huge contribution to supplying low carbon electricity
to the GB market and to meeting the UK’s carbon reduction targets.
“The sale of stakes in these wind farms to Greencoat is a continuation of
SSE’s longstanding approach of partnering and securing value for
shareholders at appropriate times.”
Tim Ingram, chairman of UKW, said: “I am delighted to announce the
acquisition of these two high load factor, ROC accredited wind farms, which
will deliver attractive investment returns.
“This transaction builds on our longstanding relationship with SSE and we
are delighted to be co-investing with a major UK pension fund partner.”
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