Foresight Solar Fund to acquire 10.7MW Hunters Race solar power plant
Foresight Solar Fund Limited (FSFL) has agreed a deal to acquire its seventh large-scale solar plant, the 10.7MW Hunters Race plant in West Sussex (England) from Brilliant Harvest Limited, a solar power generation company and Elgar Byrne Capital Limited, a UK based developer of ground based solar photovoltaic farms, for a purchase consideration of £14.5 million (US$24 million).
The Hunters Race project, situated on 12.4 hectares of low-grade agricultural farmland on what was formerly a quarry, is expected to be connected to the grid and fully operational before the end of March, 2014, generating revenues from that point and beating the cutoff point for a reduction in solar subsidies that takes effect from April, 2014.
The plant was identified as a potential acquisition in the company's prospectus ahead of a £150 million (US$250 million) IPO in October. The funds raised were fully allocated in purchasing six large-scale UK solar assets. Two further plants, Castle Eaton (Swindon SPV) and High Penn (Calne SPV), together totalling 28MW, are expected to be grid connected shortly, bringing the cumulative total invested in operational and revenue generating assets to more than 60MW or more than 50% of the Company's assets.
Jamie Richards, Partner and Head of Infrastructure at Foresight, stated:
We are pleased to have binding contracts in place to acquire the Hunters Race plant. We remain on target to have the Foresight Solar Fund portfolio fully operational by the end of March. The promising outlook for the UK solar sector, the quality of the underlying assets and Foresight's track record in the sector continues to provide investors with an attractive opportunity to secure valuable inflation-linked yield and the potential for capital growth.
FSFL is a Jersey-registered closed-end investment company. The company invests in a portfolio of UK ground based solar power assets to achieve its objective of providing Shareholders with a sustainable and increasing dividend with the potential for capital growth over the long-term.
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