British energy supplier SSE has agreed to sell nearly half of its stake in the Stronelairg and Dunmaglass wind farms in Scotland to renewables fund Greencoat UK Wind and a UK pension fund for 635 million pounds ($832.17 million).
The move is part of SSE’s wider strategy to focus on its core businesses of regulated networks, renewables, flexible thermal generation and business energy sales, it said.
SSE will sell its 49.9 percent stake in the wind farms but will continue to hold the remaining 50.1 percent majority stake and continue to operate both assets.
Greencoat UK Wind, an infrastructure fund managed by Greencoat Capital, is buying the stake in partnership with a large unnamed UK pension fund whose investment is managed by Greencoat.
“We are pleased to add two more large wind farm investments to our portfolio, located close to our existing capacity in the Highlands,” said Laurence Fumagalli at Greencoat Capital.
“We continue to see a strong pipeline of acquisition opportunities, and our independence and our proven track record in execution and operations makes us an attractive partner for utility vendors looking to recycle capital,” he said.
Stronelairg wind farm is located near Fort Augustus, Scotland, and has an installed generating capacity of 228 megawatts (MW). Dunmaglass is in the south of Inverness and has an installed generating capacity of 94 MW.
The transaction is expected to complete by the end of March this year.
Source: Reuters.com