NTR plc attracts Legal & General as anchor investor in €250m wind fund

NTR plc announced on December 23 that Legal & General Capital has committed to funding up to 47.5% of a wind investment fund targeting €250 million of equity, which was launched by NTR to invest in onshore wind projects in Ireland and the UK. 

NTR will also be a significant investor in the fund with a €50 million commitment and it is anticipated that a select number of other investors will join the fund in Q1 2016.  At 270MW in capacity, the total capital that would be required amounts to approximately €670 million and the wind projects in the fund would generate sufficient electricity to power up to 170,000 homes and avoid more than 300,000 tonnes of CO2 emissions per annum across Ireland and the UK.

NTR has already acquired the first four assets for the fund, which total €62 million in equity and will provide a combined capacity of 55MW.  These include large multiple turbine wind assets located in Scotland, Northern Ireland and Republic of Ireland that are ready for construction with land, planning consent and grid connection agreements all in place.  The fund has an active pipeline of further investments across the UK and Irish markets.

In addition to its direct investment in the fund, Legal & General has partnered with NTR in order to explore further prospects to invest in the clean energy sector, through an investment in NTR’s clean energy investment and asset management business, NTR Wind Management Limited, a subsidiary of NTR plc.  Legal & General has a target of spending £15 billion on infrastructure, with a focus on sectors that are key for economic growth: housing and urban regeneration, transport and clean energy.

Rosheen McGuckian, Chief Executive Officer of NTR plc, said:

“This is a very exciting partnership for NTR, where we will be aligning the patient capital of Legal & General with our own track record in acquiring, constructing and operating wind projects.  We have a rapidly growing pipeline of construction ready onshore wind assets and we are delighted that Legal & General have both committed to this, our first wind fund to include other investors, and to working with us on additional clean energy investment opportunities.”

Laura Mason, Director of Direct Investments at Legal & General Capital, said:

“Legal & General’s investment in the energy infrastructure focuses on wind and solar power.  Renewable energy is part of the solution to ensure the lights stay on in the across Europe.  It is clean, green, and in the future it will be cheap.  Investment into new energy technology will deliver massive leaps in renewables capacity, and drive down the household bills of renewable energy for customers.”

John Bromley, Head of Clean Energy at Legal & General Capital, commented: 

“The Paris climate agreement shows a global recognition that the world’s energy system needs transformational change, but for this to happen, hard investment decisions need to be made to deliver reductions in carbon emissions and benefits to energy consumers.  Legal & General sees wind and solar power as key components to delivering greener and cheaper energy in the long term.  By using its balance sheet capital to pave the way for large scale, long term institutional investment, Legal & General is channelling its investment might into helping revolutionise these technologies for the benefit of investors, consumers, and wider society.”

NTR plc is focused on the wind energy sector, and has been involved in the construction and operation of 1.75GW of wind projects across US, UK and Ireland since 1999.  It specialises in small and medium scale, long-term, high yielding assets.