3rd Apr 2014 11:44
LONDON (Alliance News) - Bluefield Solar Income Fund Ltd Thursday said a further five plants have become operational by their target date of the end of March, as the company confirmed it expects to meet its dividend targets in the coming years.
Bluefield, which came to the market with an initial public offering in July 2013, said it expects to deliver against its 4 pence a share dividend target for the financial year ending June 30, and 7p for the year after that. From that point, the company intends to increase the dividend in line with the UK retail price index.
In a statement, the fund said the plants met the deadline to qualify under the 1.6 Renewable Obligation Certificate regime and have been acquired for an average of GBP1.12 million per megawatt peak (MWp).
Including transaction costs and working capital, the price is GBP1.14 million per MWp. They have a combined energy capacity of some 69 MWp and bring the total connected capacity of the company to 91 MWp, the fund said.
"The announcement today is testament to the selection of the contractors made by Bluefield, our adviser, and to the quality of the contractors' work," Chairman John Rennocks said in a statement.
"The board has confidence that the sector leading returns targeted of 7 pence, rising with RPI, will be achieved due to the attractive acquisition prices combined with the cautious nature of the underlying assumptions such as a zero real energy price inflation and low levels of leverage," Rennocks added.
The five plants are Goosewillow (17 MWp) and Hill Farm (15 MWp) in Oxfordshire, Hall Farm (11.5 MWp) in Norfolk, Saxley (6 MWp) in Hampshire and Pentylands (19 MWp) in Wiltshire. Hardingham (15 MWp) in Norfolk and North Beer (7 MWp) in Cornwall were grid-connected during 2013.
North Beer has been operational and accruing revenues since March 2013, Bluefield said.
Bluefield said the grid connection of Betingau (10.5 MWp) in Glamorgan, which had also been due to become operational at the end of March, is expected to be announced shortly.
Meanwhile, the final plant, Sheppey (10.5 MWp) in Kent, is on target for its contractually guaranteed connection date in April, Bluefield said.
Bluefield said all the projects benefit from contractual protections guaranteeing revenue from a fixed date irrespective of their successful connection, and price adjustments to ensure returns are equalized irrespective of the final ROC regime accreditation.
Bluefield said it expects to make further announcements shortly regarding Betingau and Sheppey and regarding the provision of a debt facility.
By Samuel Agini; [email protected]; @samuelagini
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