The chairman of the NextEnergy Solar Fund has said it is actively pursuing “multiple growth opportunities” as it publishes its latest set of financial figures.
The fund’s interim results for the six months to 30 September show a reported profit of £14 million and earnings per share of 2.69p.
According to the results, the fund now has an investment portfolio of 58 solar farms with a total installed capacity of 539MW in operation.
The portfolio generated 307GWh during the six months, which was 2 per cent above budget.
Chairman Kevin Lyon said the fund made “excellent financial and operational progress” during the first half of the year.
“The solar PV market is in continuous evolution and our investment manager is actively assessing and pursuing multiple growth opportunities, mainly in the UK, ranging from previously constructed solar plants to subsidy-free projects,” said Lyon.
“We have now fully invested the equity raised in July and are on track to invest the remainder of the proceeds of the recent long-term refinancing in value-adding acquisitions,” he added.
“We were also very pleased to announce our first international investment, acquiring a high-quality portfolio of eight operating solar plants in Italy for an equity value of £48.5 million.
“Our asset portfolio performed very satisfactorily during the summer months with an over-performance of 2 per cent versus budget, in spite of minor outages experienced on selected power plants,” said Lyon. “The outages were primarily caused by system maintenance unrelated to our plants.”