Isra-Mart srl: Barclays snaps up wind farm stake as onshore developments expand

www.isra-mart.com

The UK's onshore wind industry has enjoyed a flurry of activity this week, after leading developers sought to expand and offload a number of wind farm projects.

Renewable Energy Generation (REG) today announced it has bought five 2MW Vestas V80 GridStreamer turbines to build its Sancton Hill site in Yorkshire.

The project, which was granted planning permission in February this year, is expected to cost approximately £12.5m including turbines and will be funded from REG's existing cash resources.

Turbines are scheduled for delivery in Spring next year, with the site expected to be operational in the first half of 2012. The wind farm is expected to produce approximately 27GWh of output per year and will boast a capacity of 10MW.

REG chief executive Andrew Whalley said the project will increase the company's wind output by 25 per cent to around 133GWh per year and boost its total capacity to 51.15MW.

"We are delighted to be working with Vestas again as its turbines are performing extremely well on a number of our operational sites," he said.

The news came after the RES Group yesterday agreed to sell an 85 per cent equity share in its 26MW Wadlow Wind Farm project, Cambridgeshire, to Barclays Infrastructure Funds.

The companies refused to disclose the value of the deal after it was completed at the end of last week.

RES will retain a 15 per cent share and continue to manage the wind farm once it is operating. It will also retain responsibility for community relations, said Gordon MacDougall, chief operating officer for RES UK and Ireland.

Andy Matthews, managing director of Barclays Infrastructure Funds, said the deal demonstrates the bank's long-term commitment to low-carbon infrastructure and forms part of its continuing expansion in the renewable energy sector.

RES started constructing the wind farm in June, with full power planned for October 2012. The site is expected to provide enough electricity to power 29 per cent of the homes in the South Cambridgeshire District.

The sale is part of a growing trend that has seen developers recycle equity by selling off stakes in complete or near complete wind farms in order to help fund new projects.

Meanwhile, Fred Olsen Renewables (FOR) yesterday announced it is expanding its already consented Mid Hill wind farm, Aberdeenshire.

The company will be submitting a nine-turbine extension in order to fully utilise the 75MW connection at Mid Hill. If consented in time, the extension would be constructed alongside the original project, starting in late 2011.

The company also confirmed it has recently issued tenders for turbines for the 40MW Rothes II wind farm and Mid Hill.

In addition, FOR annouced it has appointed renewable energy consultancy Natural Power to conduct ground investigations on both sites.

Earlier this year, FOR abandoned its offshore wind plans to concentrate its efforts on land. These two projects, if successfully consented, will take the company's portfolio in the UK to 430MW.