BlackRock has acquired an additional 57MW of operational UK solar as part of its £1 billion Kingfisher partnership with Lightsource BP.
BlackRock and Lightsource BP announced the formation of Kingfisher last summer, setting their sights on spending £1 billion on 1GW of UK solar capacity to steal a march on their secondary solar market rivals.
Unlock unlimited access for 12 whole months of distinctive global analysis
Photovoltaics International is now included.
- Regular insight and analysis of the industry’s biggest developments
- In-depth interviews with the industry’s leading figures
- Unlimited digital access to the PV Tech Power journal catalogue
- Unlimited digital access to the Photovoltaics International journal catalogue
- Access to more than 1,000 technical papers
- Discounts on Solar Media’s portfolio of events, in-person and virtual
Today’s deal takes Kingfisher to around one quarter of that 1GW target, BlackRock said.
Although BlackRock has not disclosed specifics of the deal, it did state that it had acquired seven operational solar farms across the UK as part of a multi-million-pound purchase.
Those projects were initially construction debt financed through RBS, however this has since been repaid and the assets have transferred debt-free to BlackRock’s unlevered Renewable Income UK Fund.
The assets will be operated and maintained by Lightsource BP, an addition to the solar operator’s under-management UK portfolio which takes it to around 2GW.
Rory O’Connor, MD and head of renewable power for Europe at BlackRock, said the investor was delighted to add the new assets to its growing UK portfolio.
Lightsource BP was advised by Baker McKenzie, while BlackRock was advised by Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe on the transaction.
