Gaelectric sells green bond

Gaelectric Holdings plc, the Irish renewable energy and energy storage group, has become the first Irish company to issue a Green Bond in the form of a €10 million fixed interest instrument over 3½ years. The funds raised by the BCP/Gaelectric High Yield Note 2 will be applied to Gaelectric operations and development in areas of renewable energy generation and energy storage.

Green bonds have the potential to help fund the transition to low-carbon economies. Countries such as India and China are actively encouraging the issuance of green bonds. Ireland is taking a lead in this area through the work of the International Sustainable Investment Centre (ISI Centre) which today co-hosted a seminar on green bonds at the IFSC in Dublin.

The keynote speaker at today’s seminar was Sean Kidney, CEO of the London-based Climate Bonds Initiative. Mr Kidney discussed the potential of green bond financing as a means to tackle the climate problem, renew aging infrastructure and create an economically viable future. He also discussed the outcome of COP 21 and announced that ISI Centre is to become the official partner of the Climate Bonds Initiative in Ireland.

Mr. Kidney said:

“With a strong working relationship in Ireland between the private sector and government, Ireland is perfectly positioned to demonstrate to the world how to make green finance serve the agenda of the transition to a low-carbon economy.

“Dedicated teams like the ISI Centre as part of a Government strategy are surprisingly rare. Every country needs an ISI Centre if we are to meet our global ambitions.”

The ISI Centre, an output of Government’s IFS2020 strategy, supports the effective delivery of sustainable and responsible financial services, products and operations, including Green Bonds.

The partnership with Climate Bonds Initiative will help Ireland become a location of choice for the issuing of green bonds and a leader in environmental finance.

Commenting on the Gaelectric Green Bond, Brendan McGrath, CEO of Gaelectric Holdings said:

“We are at an important juncture in the development of the group. This note issue with BCP is in response to strong demand that we have received from current and new investors who wish to participate in an efficient way. The response to the issue has been very encouraging.”

Since its establishment in 2004, Gaelectric Holdings has created and developed an extensive portfolio of renewable energy projects in a number of countries, including an extensive portfolio of onshore wind generation in Ireland and energy storage projects in Northern Ireland, Great Britain and Europe. It has also established positions in solar generation, energy market services and the emerging ‘prosumer’ energy sector.