Greencoat and SEP to invest in Irish wind energy market

Energy infrastructure company Greencoat Renewables is aiming to raise up to €250m from a dual stock market listing in London and Dublin in order to fund its growth objectives.

The company — the infrastructure arm of London-based clean energy investment firm Greencoat Capital — is looking to acquire a number of wind farms across Ireland before spreading its wind and solar energy asset portfolio across the eurozone with projects in France, Belgium, Germany, the Netherlands and Finland in mind.

Earlier this year, Greencoat acquired a seed portfolio of operating Irish onshore wind farms — in Cork and Tipperary — with combined capacity of 137 megawatts. That move was funded through AIB and the Ireland Strategic Investment Fund (ISIF).

Greencoat’s non-executive chairman Rónán Murphy said the intention to float marks “an exciting next step” for the company.

“The quality of our seed portfolio, coupled with the expertise and experience of our investment manager [Greencoat Capital], should allow us to generate an attractive yield for shareholders, coupled with capital growth.”

Greencoat expects to be the first renewable energy infrastructure company to be listed on the Irish Stock Exchange (its listings will be on the secondary ESM market, and the AIM in London) and it is targeting an internal rate of return of 7%-8% and an annual dividend of 6c per share for investors.

Meanwhile, Glasgow-based venture capitalist Scottish Equity Partners (SEP) has provided project finance to fund the construction of the €8.7m, 4.6 megawatt capacity Curraghderrig wind farm in Co Kerry, which will be operated by specialist renewables development and management business Rengen.

SEP made the investment through its environmental capital fund (ECF), which targets energy infrastructure projects. Bank of Ireland is also a backer of the project, which will operate two turnbines, be operational from September and sell generated electricity to energy utility Vayu.

Ireland is a key market for the development of new wind assets, particularly in light of the supportive mechanisms in place under the Government’s REFIT system. The transaction represents ECF’s first investment in Ireland and the start of a development partnership with Rengen designed to grow ECF’s portfolio of high-performing wind assets across both Ireland and the UK.

Curraghderrig will have market-leading wind turbines in a proven high wind location,” said SEP director Peter Bachmann.