- NextPower UK ESG, a private fund for new-build solar projects, has acquired its 11th utility-scale solar project.
- With this acquisition, NextPower UK ESG now manages 515.5MW of solar assets and is targeting a total portfolio of 2GW in the coming years.
NextPower UK ESG, a private fund for new-build solar projects, has acquired its 11th utility-scale solar project, bringing the total capacity of its portfolio to over 500MW.
The fund, managed by NextEnergy Capital, has acquired the 18.5MW Locks Solar Farm in Hampshire, England. The project is ready to build, having obtained a contract in the sixth Contracts for Difference (CfD) allocation round (AR6).
The project secured planning permission in March 2023, having won the support of the local parish council after it initially opposed the development. Permission has also been obtained for a battery energy storage system (BESS) on site, although its size has not been disclosed.
With this acquisition, NextPower UK ESG now manages 515.5MW of solar assets and is targeting a total portfolio of 2GW in the coming years.
Since its launch, NextPower UK ESG has secured £683 million. According to NextEnergy Capital, the fund currently has several investors in late-stage due diligence and expects to secure further capital in the weeks to come.
Ross Grier, COO and head of UK investments at NextEnergy Capital, said, “This acquisition represents a big milestone for NextPower UK ESG. The portfolio now has a total capacity of 515.5MW; this is a great achievement for a fund which started its life less than two years ago.”
Since launching in 2022, NextPower UK ESG has gone from strength to strength. In June, the firm energised its third solar asset, the 24MW Penlow solar power plant in Essex, having previously brought the 75MW Llanwern solar farm and the 40MW Strensham project online.
In October, NextPower UK ESG signed one of the biggest recorded sleeved power purchase agreements (PPA) for the Llanwern solar power plant in South Wales. Anglian Water Services signed a 20-year inflation-linked deal with NextPower UK ESG, covering 90 per cent of the electricity from the project and any associated Renewable Energy Guarantees of Origin (REGO) certificates.
NextEnergy Capital has been making moves in the BESS sector as well. NextEnergy Capital’s solar and BESS fund, NextPower V ESG, secured US$110 million (£85.75 million) in capital funding in March of this year, £77.9 million of which came from a major European pension fund.
NextPower UK ESG has also benefitted from investment from pension schemes, with Solar Power Portal reporting that an unnamed UK-defined benefit pension scheme had made a significant investment.