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UTILITY WEEK | 15TH - 21ST SEPTEMBER 2017 | 19 Finance & Investment Analysis I n the short space of four and a half years, Greencoat UK Wind has become a major player in the renewable energy invest- ment market and has amassed a portfolio of 24 windfarms around the country. The investment fund's partner, Stephen Lilley tells Utility Week it was created with "the aim of being the long-term owner of assets" and now has a portfolio worth around £1.3 billion. "We constructed the company to be the buyer of choice for utilities. We see our- selves buying operating assets," says Lilley. "We believe utilities will recycle capital from onshore assets, so they can fund building offshore. So, it might well be that we will buy more onshore assets as they start to venture offshore and, in effect, fund that by doing so." The publicly-listed fund's half-year results, which were published in July, show its investments generated an impres- sive 626.6GWh of electricity in the first six months of the year, which was 2 per cent above budget. The fund's windfarms also generated £39.2 million in net cash during the same time period. "We are pleased to report the continued good performance of our portfolio, with good cash generation, over budget production, an increase in the dividend and strong dividend cover," said chairman, Tim Ingram. And last month (August), Greencoat spent £325 million buying three more windfarms in the space of just two weeks. It was also confirmed that the fund's managing partner, Richard Nourse, had been appointed to the government's energy cost review, which will be chaired by Oxford pro- fessor and economist Dieter Helm. But Lilley adds that Greencoat UK Wind is unlikely to buy anything else at the moment aer having gone on a multi-million pound spending spree. "We have a leverage cap of 40 per cent, which is self imposed. The busi- ness can cope with a lot more debt than that, but we wanted to create a company where people know that whatever happens, they will pay the dividend. As we are currently at 38 per cent, we really can't buy anything else before we raise additional equity," he added. Greencoat on the march Greencoat UK Wind has become a major renewables investor, buying up developers' completed wind projects. Jamie Hailstone looks at the company's impressive portfolio of windfarms. Greencoat's recent acquisitions: Corriegath The fund's most recent acquisition was the Corriegath Wind Farm on the eastern side of Loch Ness, which it bought last month aer completing a £181 million deal. The windfarm was developed by Invenergy and commissioned in April 2017. It has a capacity of 69.5MW and a forecast net load factor of 35.2 per cent, subject to an assess- ment of energy production over the next two years. North Hoyle and Slieve Divena Greencoat UK Wind also bought two other windfarms last month for a total cost of £105 million, taking its net generating capac- ity to 547MW. The projects were purchased from institutional investors advised by JP Morgan Asset Management. The 60MW North Hoyle windfarm is five miles offshore in Liverpool Bay, while Slieve Divena has a generating capacity of 30MW and is located in County Tyromne, Northern Ireland. Bishopthorpe In June, the fund bought the Bishopthorpe Wind Farm from BayWa r.e for a total consid- eration of £47 million. Bishopthorpe is located near Grimsby in Lincolnshire, has a capacity of 16.4MW and a forecast net load factor of 35.5 per cent. The facility was originally developed by ASC Renewables and built by BayWa r.e. It was commissioned in May 2017 and will receive 0.9 Rocs per MWh. Langhope Rig In March, Greencoat UK Wind bought the Langhope Rig Wind Farm from GE Energy Financial Services for £39.8 million. The windfarm was originally developed and constructed by SSE, was commissioned in December 2015, and receives 0.9 ROCs per MWh.