Octopus Renewables acquires 24MW construction-ready wind farm for £50m

Octopus Renewables Infrastructure Trust plc (LON:ORIT) announced on Thursday that it had acquired 100% of the Cerisou wind farm, a construction-ready project in the Vienne department of France.

The project has been acquired from RES SAS, part of the RES Group, a global developer and operator of renewable energy assets. The deal was done for €56 million, or £50 million, including future construction payments.

Octopus Renewables said that construction will be carried out under a full-wrap contract by RES, and is set to be completed in the third quarter of 2022. Once in operation, the wind farm will have a 24MW capacity and will comprise 8 turbines.

It will also benefit from fixed, index-linked revenues for twenty years via the premium tariff under the demande de contrat de complément de remuneration 2017 Contract for Difference regime.

The acquisition will be ORIT’s fifth transaction following the buy-up of 14 windfarms and the Ljungbyholm Wind Farm, and will mean it has fully committed all of the proceeds from its IPO in December 2019.

Speaking on the company’s latest acqquisition, company Chairman, Phil Austin, stated:

“I am delighted to announce this fifth acquisition today, which signifies a milestone for ORIT with the full commitment of the IPO proceeds. Our manager has worked hard to identify compelling investment opportunities for the Trust and we have built a well-diversified portfolio for the Company.”

Chris Gaydon, Investment Director at Octopus Renewables, added:

“We are pleased to announce the acquisition of the Cerisou wind farm, which marks ORIT’s first wind farm in France, leverages Octopus Renewables’ experience in this market and meets our portfolio diversification goals. The French market is attractive to ORIT as long-term subsidies and political support continue to provide investment opportunities in new build renewable energy assets.”

Following the update, the company’s shares remained broadly flat, up by around a percent, at 110.50p 29/10/20. This is short of its six-month high of 116.00p, but above its recent nadir of 100.40p. Octopus Renewables also has a dividend yield of 0.96%.

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Senior Journalist at the UK Investor Magazine. Also a contributing writer at the Investment Observer, UK Property Journal and UK Startup Magazine. Postgraduate of King's College London with a specialisation in Business Ethics. Interested in Development Economics and David Hume.