NTR plc Attracts Legal & General as Anchor Investor in €250m Wind Fund
NTR plc (“NTR”) today announces that Legal & General Capital has committed to funding up to 47.5% of a wind investment fund targeting €250m of equity, which was launched by NTR to invest in onshore wind projects in Ireland and the UK. NTR will also be a significant investor in the fund with a €50m commitment and it is anticipated that a select number of other investors will join the fund in Q1 2016. At 270MW in capacity, the total capital that would be required amounts to approximately €670m and the wind projects in the fund would generate sufficient electricity to power up to 170,000 homes and avoid more than 300,000 tonnes of CO2 emissions per annum across Ireland and the UK.
NTR has already acquired the first four assets for the fund, which total €62m in equity and will provide a combined capacity of 55MW. These include large multiple turbine wind assets located in Scotland, Northern Ireland and Republic of Ireland that are ready for construction with land, planning consent and grid connection agreements all in place. The fund has an active pipeline of further investments across the UK and Irish markets.
In addition to its direct investment in the fund, Legal & General has partnered with NTR in order to explore further prospects to invest in the clean energy sector, through an investment in NTR’s clean energy investment and asset management business, NTR Wind Management Limited, a subsidiary of NTR plc. Legal & General has a target of spending £15bn on infrastructure, with a focus on sectors that are key for economic growth: housing and urban regeneration, transport and clean energy.
Rosheen McGuckian, Chief Executive Officer of NTR plc, said: “This is a very exciting partnership for NTR, where we will be aligning the patient capital of Legal & General with our own track record in acquiring, constructing and operating wind projects. We have a rapidly growing pipeline of construction ready onshore wind assets and we are delighted that Legal & General have both committed to this, our first wind fund to include other investors, and to working with us on additional clean energy investment opportunities.”
Laura Mason, Director of Direct Investments at Legal & General Capital, said: “Legal & General’s investment in the energy infrastructure focuses on wind and solar power. Renewable energy is part of the solution to ensure the lights stay on in the across Europe. It is clean, green, and in the future it will be cheap. Investment into new energy technology will deliver massive leaps in renewables capacity, and drive down the household bills of renewable energy for customers.”
John Bromley, Head of Clean Energy at Legal & General Capital, commented: “The Paris climate agreement shows a global recognition that the world’s energy system needs transformational change, but for this to happen, hard investment decisions need to be made to deliver reductions in carbon emissions and benefits to energy consumers. Legal & General sees wind and solar power as key components to delivering greener and cheaper energy in the long term. By using its balance sheet capital to pave the way for large scale, long term institutional investment, Legal & General is channelling its investment might into helping revolutionise these technologies for the benefit of investors, consumers, and wider society.”
NTR plc is focused on the wind energy sector, and has been involved in the construction and operation of 1.75GW of wind projects across US, UK and Ireland since 1999. It specialises in small and medium scale, long-term, high yielding assets.
Notes to editors:
NTR plc
NTR plc is a renewable energy investment management group that acquires, constructs and manages assets directly and for third parties. NTR plc brings sectoral expertise, financing capability and operational management to its clean energy investments. Founded in 1978, NTR plc has diversified into renewable energy investments and since 1999, through its associated companies, the company has constructed and operated 1.75GW of wind projects across the US, UK and Ireland.
Legal & General Capital
Legal & General Capital (LGC) focuses on direct investments in four key sectors: UK Housing, UK Urban Regeneration, Alternative finance and Clean Energy. These reflect our aim to invest for the long term in economically and socially useful assets, to secure competitive returns and to create new asset classes for Legal & General’s varied investment requirements, for our partners and for the wider marketplace. We work closely alongside other businesses within Legal & General to ensure the broadest range of skillsets are deployed on any project and to utilise principal investment and asset management synergies across the Group. Investments to date have included CALA Homes (housebuilding), Media City/Salford (urban regeneration) and Pemberton (Alternative finance).
Legal & General Group Plc
Established in 1836, Legal & General is a leading provider of insurance, savings and investment management products in the UK. The Group has a market capitalisation of £15.65bn (as at 22 December 2015) and is responsible for investing £728bn worldwide (as at 30 September 2015) on behalf of investors, policyholders and shareholders. We have over seven million customers in the UK for life assurance, pensions, investments and general insurance plans and over one million customers in the US who rely on us for life assurance. In 2014, Legal & General’s operating profit (on the IFRS basis) was £1,275m and earnings per share were 16.70p for the period, an increase of 10% for both respectively.