Good Energy sells generation portfolio and puts focus on clean transport and energy services
Good Energy has completed the sale of its owned and operated wind and solar farms with the money raised helping to fund its ongoing shift to energy and mobility services.
Renewable energy investment specialists Bluefield Partners LLP purchased the portfolio following a competitive process for up to £24.5m. Bluefield previously acquired the Good Energy developed 49.99MW West Raynham Solar Farm in 2015.
Good Energy plans to invest the funds from the sale into its on-going strategy, including participating in the current funding round being undertaken by its subsidiary Zap-Map. The UK’s go-to app for electric vehicle (EV) charging has had a successful year, launching numerous commercial propositions during an explosive time for the electric vehicle market. In addition, Good Energy will continue to invest in building a new platform for small scale generators, providing smart metered power export, as part of its on-going commitment to decentralised energy.
The 47.5MW generation portfolio provides around 15% of Good Energy customers’ electricity, and will continue to do so via power purchase agreements (PPAs). This will see the wind and solar sites, which include the UK’s first commercial wind farm at Delabole in Cornwall, join the community of more than 1,900 renewable generators across the country which Good Energy sources power from via PPAs.
Alongside Delabole, the sale also includes the Good Energy developed Hampole Wind Farm, which powered on in 2014. In addition to the wind farms are six solar farms, located across Cornwall, Dorset and Wiltshire.
Nigel Pocklington, Chief Executive Officer of Good Energy, said: “The sale of our generation portfolio is a transformational moment for Good Energy and a fantastic deal for all of our stakeholders. Good Energy did the hard work getting these sites built, and now we are recycling that capital from our past to invest in our future.
“Last year, we outlined our clear strategic direction to capitalise on a rapidly growing market in decentralised, digitised clean energy and transport services, based on 100% ‘real’ renewable power.
“We are ideally positioned to benefit from this trend through our investment in Zap–Map, the UK’s leading EV app, and our growing stable of other energy products and services. We expect to make further investments across both transport and decentralised energy to deliver our strategic plan, which we believe has massive headroom for growth.
“Alongside these investments into mobility and energy services, this transaction reduces debt and further strengthens our balance sheet, which is particularly important given the current volatility in the energy market.”
Neil Wood, Bluefield Partners LLP, said: “Bluefield’s success in this process is a mark of our commitment to the UK renewables sector and drive to find high quality, highly regulated assets for our shareholders. They are a great fit for our existing operational portfolio.”
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