Greencoat Renewables announces Tipperary wind farm acquisition

Glencarbry Wind Farm has been in operation since July 2017

Nordex will continue to manage operations and maintenance at Glencarbry Wind Farm in Co Tipperary.
Nordex will continue to manage operations and maintenance at Glencarbry Wind Farm in Co Tipperary.

Renewable infrastructure company Greencoat Renewables has acquired a Tipperary wind farm for an undisclosed sum .

The Glencarbry Wind Farm, which has been in operation since July 2017, has a 35.6 megawatt capacity, boosting Greencoat’s total capacity to 685.6MW.

The facility, which is being bought from John Laing Group, consists of 12 Nordex turbines and comes with a long-term guaranteed minimum floor price for the electricity it produces until July 2032.

Nordex will continue to manage operations and maintenance.

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The acquisition is being funded by the company’s existing credit facility, bringing total borrowings to 49 per cent of gross asset value.

“We are pleased to continue our strategy of consolidating the Irish renewable energy market with the acquisition of Glencarbry wind farm, another high-quality asset with long-term contracted revenues,” said Paul O’Donnell, investment manager at Greencoat Renewables.

“We are also pleased to have closed our second transaction with John Laing, again demonstrating our ability to transact with leading investors and developers across the sector.”

Mr O'Donnell said the company continued to see a range of attractive opportunities in Ireland and the wider European market.

The company last year bought a portfolio of three wind farms from John Laing Group in continental Europe, the first investment the company had made in the renewable energy market there. The portfolio comprised a 20 MW wind farm in the Burgundy region; a 21.6 MW wind farm in the Picardy region; and a 10.3 MW wind farm located in Saint-Martin-l’Ars.

Finland wind farm

More recently, Greencoat announced it would acquire the operational Cordal wind farm in Kerry from Cubico Sustainable Investments.

That followed the announcement that it would buy a wind farm in Finland for about €60 million. The 43.2MW Kokkoneva wind farm is currently under construction in Siikalatva.

Last month, it was reported that the UK renewable-energy funds manager behind Greencoat is considering putting itself up for sale.

London-based Greencoat Capital is in the early stages of speaking to potential advisers as it weighs strategic options, Bloomberg reported, adding that the business could attract interest from other fund managers looking to gain expertise in environmentally friendly investments.

However, analysts highlighted that a sale of London-based Greencoat Capital would have no immediate impact on Greencoat Renewables or other funds, including Greencoat UK Wind, a listed infrastructure fund that is a member of the benchmark FTSE 250 index.

Ciara O'Brien

Ciara O'Brien

Ciara O'Brien is an Irish Times business and technology journalist