Leading renewable energy consultancy and service provider, Natural Power, has acted as the vendor’s technical advisor for the sale of Toucan Energy’s solar portfolio, consisting of 53 operational solar farms in the UK. With a combined capacity of 513.5 MWp across England, Wales, and Northern Ireland and powering the equivalent of approximately 184,000 homes, the portfolio is the largest operational solar portfolio transacted in the UK to date.
Fuaad Mukadam, Principal Technical Advisor and the Project Manager for this deal at Natural Power, said: “Given the scale and intricacy of this historic portfolio and deal, we’re proud to have played a key role as a technical advisor in this transaction. This landmark transaction not only continues to support the UK's clean energy strategy and targets, but also underscores our commitment to the journey towards net-zero emissions.”
Schroders Greencoat has agreed to acquire the Toucan Energy portfolio following a competitive bidding process managed by the joint administrators of Toucan Energy Holdings 1 Limited at Interpath Advisory.
The majority of the portfolio will be acquired by long-standing Schroders Greencoat managed funds, including Greencoat Solar II LP and Greencoat Renewable Income LP, as well as recently launched mandates. A significant portion is being acquired by six Local Government Pension Schemes: Avon, Cornwall, Devon, Gloucestershire, Oxfordshire and Wiltshire Funds via Schroders Greencoat Wessex Gardens LP, a place-based and locally-focused renewable energy infrastructure fund established last year. Tokyo Century is acting as a co-investor in the acquisition.
Jim Tucker, Managing Director at Interpath Advisory and joint administrator of Toucan Energy Holdings 1 Limited, said: “We are delighted to have reached this landmark agreement with Schroders Greencoat which will see this excellent solar portfolio move into new ownership, delivering optimum value and generating a significant return for the portfolio’s creditors.
“This was a highly competitive sales process, requiring substantial preparation, due in no small part to the fact that assets of this scale and quality rarely come to market. We look forward to the transaction completing in the coming weeks.”