REG - NextEnergy Solar Fnd - 100th Operating Solar Asset

NextEnergy Solar FundAnnouncement

09/06/2022 07:00

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RNS Number : 2326O  NextEnergy Solar Fund Limited  09 June 2022

LEI: 213800ZPHCBDDSQH5447

9 June 2022

 

NextEnergy Solar Fund Limited

 

("NESF" or the "Company")

 

 

100th Operating Solar Asset

 

NextEnergy Solar Fund, the specialist solar power renewable energy investment
company, is pleased to announce its portfolio has reached one hundred
operating solar assets.

 

The Company's hundredth operating solar asset is a 181kW commercial rooftop
solar power asset located on a Holiday Inn in Nottinghamshire.  The asset
benefits from an attractive 25-year power purchase agreement ("PPA") for 100%
of its generated volume.

 

This asset marks the final investment under the Company's rooftop solar
venture with renewable energy developer, Zestec. The partnership, which was
formed in March 2021 has allowed the Company to add five rooftop solar assets
with a combined capacity of 0.9MW, yielding attractive future risk-weighted
financial returns in line with the Company's strategy. The five rooftop assets
benefit from long term, inflation linked PPA's with the building tenants, with
two benefiting from government subsidised Feed in Tariffs ("FiTs").  The
rooftop assets generate stable priced, sustainable energy for the tenants,
helping them to reduce power price volatility whilst achieving their
decarbonisation ambitions.

 

Zestec portfolio breakdown:

 

 NESF asset number  Rooftop solar asset  Location         Subsidy/PPA   Installed capacity (MW)  Cost (£m)   Remaining life of plant (Years)
 96                 Newfield             Cheshire         FiTs UK       0.18                     0.17        22.4
 97                 JSC                  Worcestershire   FiTs UK       0.04                     0.04        17.4
 98                 Karcher              Oxfordshire      Subsidy-free  0.3                      0.23        23
 99                 Dolphin              East Sussex      Subsidy-free  0.21                     0.15        24.6
 100                Holiday Inn          Nottinghamshire  Subsidy-free  0.18                     0.19        25.0

 

The Company continues to pursue an exciting £350m pipeline, which includes UK
standalone energy storage, international solar assets, and co-located battery
storage via the Company's newly announced retrofit program.

 

 

Ross Grier, UK Managing Director, NextEnergy Group commented:

"NESF's hundredth solar asset, in Nottinghamshire, marks another major
milestone in short succession after announcing international co-investments
and battery storage acquisitions.  NESF has consistently delivered on
strategy since its IPO in 2014, and the fact that this latest solar asset is
based on the rooftop of an international hotel chain shows how far the solar
sector has matured and developed, with it now accepted and embraced as a major
energy asset class.  As the cheapest and quickest to construct form of
renewable energy, solar is vital to the transition to net zero and NESF is
proud of the part it is playing in this transition."

 

 

For further information:

 NextEnergy Capital Group                   020 3746 0700
 Michael Bonte-Friedheim                    ir@nextenergysolarfund.com
 Aldo Beolchini
 Ross Grier
 Peter Hamid (Investor Relations)

 RBC Capital Markets                        020 7653 4000
 Matthew Coakes
 Kathryn Deegan

 Cenkos Securities                          020 7397 8900
 James King
 William Talkington

 Camarco                                    020 3781 8334
 Owen Roberts
 Eddie Livingstone-Learmonth

 Ocorian Administration (Guernsey) Limited  014 8174 2642
 Kevin Smith

 

 

Notes to Editors(1):

 

About NextEnergy Solar Fund

NESF is a specialist solar power renewable energy investment company listed on
the premium segment of the London Stock Exchange that invests in utility-scale
solar power plants and energy storage.  The Company may invest up to 30% of
its gross asset value in non-UK OECD countries, 15% in solar-focused private
equity structures, and 10% in energy storage.

 

NESF currently has a diversified portfolio comprising of the following:

Solar PV:

·    100 operating solar assets across the UK and Italy (primarily on
agricultural, industrial, and commercial sites)

·    A 50MW co-investment into a Spanish solar project alongside NextPower
III ESG, currently under construction

·    A 210MW co-investment into a Portuguese solar project alongside
NextPower III ESG, currently under construction

·    A subsidy-free UK solar project under construction (Whitecross 36MW)

·    A ready-to-build subsidy-free UK solar project (Hatherden 50MW)

·    A $50m commitment into NextPower III ESG (a private solar
infrastructure fund providing exposure to both operating and under
construction, international solar assets)

 

Energy Storage:

·    A 50MW standalone battery storage project in Fife, Scotland,
currently under construction (part of a 250MW joint venture with Eelpower)

·     A 6MW co-located battery storage project at North Norfolk Solar
Farm

 

The NESF portfolio has a combined installed power capacity of 865MW (excluding
NextPower III MW on an equivalent look-through basis).

 

As at 31 March 2022, the Company had an unaudited gross asset value of
£1,150 million, being the aggregate of the net asset value of the ordinary
shares, the fair value of the preference shares and the amount of NESF Group
debt outstanding, and a net asset value of £669 million.

 

NESF's investment objective is to provide ordinary shareholders with
attractive risk-adjusted returns, principally in the form of regular
dividends, by investing in a diversified portfolio of solar energy and energy
storage infrastructure assets.  The majority of NESF's long-term cash flows
are inflation-linked via UK government subsidies.

 

For further information on NESF please visit www.nextenergysolarfund.com
(http://nextenergysolarfund.com/)

 

Commitment to ESG

NESF is committed to ESG principles and responsible investment which make a
meaningful contribution to reducing CO2 emissions through the generation of
clean solar power.  NESF will only select investments that meet the
requirements of NEC Group's Sustainable Investment Policy.  Based on this
policy, NESF benefits from NEC's rigorous ESG due diligence on each
investment.  NESF is committed to reporting on its ESG performance in
accordance with the UN Sustainable Development Goals framework and the EU
Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation.

 

NESF has been awarded the London Stock Exchange's Green Economy Mark and has
been designated a Guernsey Green Fund by the Guernsey Financial Services
Commission.

 

NESF's sustainability-related disclosures in the financial services sector in
accordance with Regulation (EU) 2019/2088 can be accessed on the ESG section
of both the NESF website (nextenergysolarfund.com/esg/
(http://www.nextenergysolarfund.com/esg/) ) & NEC Group website
(nextenergycapital.com/sustainability/transparency-and-reporting/
(https://www.nextenergycapital.com/sustainability/transparency-and-reporting/)
).

 

 

 

About NextEnergy Group

NESF is managed by NextEnergy Capital, part of the NextEnergy Group.
NextEnergy Group was founded in 2007 to become a leading market participant in
the international solar sector.  Since its inception, it has been active in
the development, construction, and ownership of solar assets across multiple
jurisdictions.  NextEnergy Group operates via its three business units:
NextEnergy Capital (Investment Management), WiseEnergy (Operating Asset
Management) and Starlight (Asset Development).

 

NextEnergy Capital

NextEnergy Capital comprises the Group's investment management activities.
To date, NEC has invested in over 325 individual solar plants for a capacity
in excess of 2.3GW across it institutional funds.
www.nextenergycapital.com (http://www.nextenergycapital.com)

 

·    NextEnergy Solar Fund ("NESF") is a solar infrastructure investment
company focused on the UK and other OECD countries, which is listed on the
premium segment of the London Stock Exchange.  It currently owns 865MW spread
among 100 individual operating assets in the UK and Italy, comprising an
unaudited gross asset value of £1,150m.  NESF is one of the largest listed
solar energy investment companies in the world.

·    NextPower II ("NPII") a private fund made up of 105 individual
operating solar power plants and an installed capacity of 149MW, focused on
consolidating the substantial, highly fragmented Italian solar market.  NPII
was successfully divested in January 2022, a 2016 vintage vehicle that
generated net IRRs to its investors in excess of 25%, versus a gross target of
10-12%.

·    NextPower III ESG ("NPIII ESG") is a private fund exclusively focused
on the international solar infrastructure sector, principally targeting
projects in carefully selected OECD countries, including the US, Portugal,
Spain, Chile, Poland and Italy.  NPIII ESG is a fund that provides a positive
social and environmental impact to the countries it has and will invest
into.  NPIII completed its fundraise with a total of $896m, including a SMA
raised.  The target of the fund was $750m.

·    NextPower UK ESG ("NPUK ESG") is a private unlevered fund investing
in greenfield subsidy-free solar projects, with PPA's, in the UK.  NPUK ESG
was launched in December 2021.  The UK Infrastructure Bank is providing
financing to the initial seed assets of the fund, and plans to invest up to
£250m, half of the fund's total target fund size, on a match-funding basis.

 

WiseEnergy

WiseEnergy® is NextEnergy Capital Group's operating asset manager.
WiseEnergy is a leading specialist operating asset manager in the solar
sector.  Since its founding, WiseEnergy has provided solar asset management,
monitoring and technical due diligence services to over 1,300 utility-scale
solar power plants with an installed capacity in excess of 2.2GW.  WiseEnergy
clients comprise leading banks and equity financiers in the energy and
infrastructure sector.

www.wise-energy.com (http://www.wise-energy.com)

 

Starlight

Starlight is NextEnergy Group's development company that is active in the
development phase of solar projects.  It has developed over 100 utility-scale
projects internationally and continues to progress a large pipeline of c.2.5GW
of both green and brownfield project developments across global geographies.

 

Notes:

(1:) All financial data is unaudited as at 31 March 2022, being the latest
date in respect of which NESF has published financial information

 

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