One of the UK’s largest solar investors believes up to 2GW of the UK’s 12GW of solar generation will change hands in the next 12-18 months.
The Foresight Group currently owns some 900MW of large-scale solar capacity, most of it in the UK.
At the end of June, it completed the acquisition of the 72MW Shotwick solar farm the 50MW Sandridge scheme. The firm is keen to add to its portfolio and outlined significant activity in the UK’s secondary solar market over the next year.
Posting half year results, the company said it was reviewing a pipeline of 500MW of potential investment and that it “expects that between 1 and 2GW of projects will be sold in the secondary market in the coming 12-18 months”.
“As the solar industry becomes increasingly competitive, acquiring assets at attractive prices is becoming more challenging,” said chairman Alexander Ohlsson. “However, Foresight Solar Fund Limited continues to make asset purchases at attractive valuations and sees significant opportunities in the UK secondary solar market as well as other developed overseas countries with stable currencies.”
Earlier this year, the Group made its first battery storage investment, acquiring the 35MW Port of Tyne project. The scheme has a four-year contract from National Grid to provide enhanced frequency response, as well as a 12-year Capacity Market contract.
One of Foresight’s largest investors is BlackRock, which also plans significant acquisition of large-scale solar projects. The asset management giant has launched a joint venture with Lightsource called Kingfisher which plans to create a £1bn, 1GW UK solar portfolio by 2020.
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