Greencoat to buy subsidy-free wind project in Scotland

Greencoat UK Wind has agreed to buy the 45MW Douglas West onshore wind project near Lanark in Scotland from Blue Energy.

The windfarm is being built without the support of any government subsidies. Construction work is due to begin in 2019, with commissioning scheduled for July 2021.

The fund will pay £45 million for the project, including both acquisition and construction costs. The transaction is expected to be completed in early 2019.

In October, Greencoat UK Wind agreed to purchase a 75 per cent stake in the Tom nan Clach windfarm from Belltown Power for a total of £126 million.

The 39MW project, located in Nairnshire in Scotland, secured a contract for difference (CfD) in the first auction round in 2015. It is currently under construction and due to be completed in June 2019.

Commenting on the latest deal, the fund’s chairman Tim Ingram said: “Once operational, Douglas West will sit alongside our existing 32 ROC investments and, with Tom nan Clach also incorporated, will increase our generating capacity to 910MW.”

Stephen Lilley from Greencoat Capital said: “During 2018 we have continued to build our portfolio with investments and commitments totalling over £500 million, of which approximately 70 per cent are in ROC accredited windfarms.

“Although we are starting to see attractive CfD and subsidy free investment opportunities, we expect the majority of future investments will continue to be made from the £50 billion pool of UK windfarms accredited under the ROC regime.”