Renewables Infrastructure to raise £300m to expand renewable portfolio in UK

Renewable energy investment firm Renewables Infrastructure Group is set to raise funds of nearly £300m to finance its clean energy portfolio expansion in the UK.

The company is intending to use the proceeds to acquire 14 wind farms and four solar parks in the UK, France and Ireland with total capacity of 276MW.

Funds to be raised through an initial public offering (IPO) are expected to be concluded in London by the end of July 2013.

The share sale follows an announcement by Bluefield Solar Income Fund to raise £150m equity through an IPO to purchase solar PV plants in the UK.

Also, Greencoat UK Wind had obtained £260m to acquire stakes in the wind farms located in the country.

Renewables Infrastructure, meanwhile, has planned to allot 75% of its investment in the UK.

The move is said to be in line with UK government’s announcement to invest about £110bn to renovate power stations and electricity distribution grids by 2020.

In addition, the federal authorities have ensured aid for solar and wind energy generation.

IPO fund manager InfraRed Capital Partners infrastructure director Richard Crawford told Bloomberg that the company is likely to raise additional funds in 2014.

"We anticipate there is the opportunity to grow the fund substantially over the coming years," added Crawford.

However, Crawford refused to disclose the volume of funds intended to be obtained over next 12 months.

"It’s attractive for investors in the listed market to have steady dividends," Crawford noted.

Besides UK, Renewables Infrastructure is also seeking expansion into the other European countries such as Germany and Scandinavia.

The company had earlier secured an option to buy projects built by Renewable Energy Systems (RES) that has built wind energy projects with total capacity of 120MW.