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Aviva Investors recently completed its acquisition of nearly 7,000 solar PV systems from London-based free solar supplier HomeSun. The deal totals around 23MW and, according to the Financial Times, is said to be worth nearly £100 million.
The deal is considered to be the UK’s largest residential renewables transaction in history. Solar Power Portal notes that most of Aviva’s new solar portfolio was installed by HomeSun during the initial phase of the FiT, which allowed all sub 4kW systems to receive 43.3p/kWh.
Daniel Green, CEO of HomeSun said, “HomeSun launched free solar across the UK and became the No 1 installer for free solar and SolarShare. Our plan has always been to find a long-term partner that will continue to provide security to our customers whose systems will be managed and monitored for 25 years. Aviva Investors has demonstrated itself to be the ideal choice throughout the process. HomeSun will continue to work with all of our customers, supporting all of the installations and developing the next innovation in products and services”.
The agreement will see HomeSun continue to service and maintain the solar portfolio for Aviva. Noteworthy, is Aviva’s intent to use the purchase as a platform to continue adding to its portfolio of renewable technologies, especially solar PV installations. Furthermore, Aviva suggested that it would begin to develop its own solar PV projects.
Ian Berry, fund manager of Infrastructure & Renewable Energy at Aviva Investors said, “This strategic investment in UK renewables is one of many we have planned and is part of our strategy of investing in high quality renewable energy infrastructure assets. We are delighted to have concluded this transaction and acquired these operational renewable energy assets. In this challenging environment, we are focused on leveraging our leading market position, sector knowledge, and financing skills in order to identify attractive opportunities and execute deals for the benefit of investors. Many institutions are looking to invest in assets that offer secure and long-dated income streams, in order to meet their liabilities, and infrastructure as an asset class has the potential to meet these needs.”
SPP pointed out that Aviva Investors indicated that the purchase of HomeSun’s solar portfolio was driven with an aim to benefit the insurer’s pension fund clients.
