50MW Solar Project Portfolio Acquired in Europe
London, July 30th, 2024 – NextEnergy Capital is pleased to announce that its latest international OECD fund, NextPower V ESG (“NPV ESG”), has acquired a c.50MW portfolio of solar farm projects in Poland from a group company of Grenevia.
This c.50MW solar portfolio acquisition marks NPV ESG’s third closed investment within three months, following a c.100MW solar project in the USA, and a 66MW CfD portfolio in Europe.
NPV ESG’s portfolio has been significantly built out during the last six months, committing to 116MW of operational solar assets and 100MW of solar assets currently under construction with a further approx. 400MW in exclusivity and expected to be transacted this quarter. Since the launch of NPV ESG, NEC has evaluated over 88GW of pipeline with 18GW of high-quality, attractive investment opportunities identified for further growth with c.1GW of solar assets in the advanced pipeline across the US, Poland, Spain, and Italy.
To date, NPV ESG has secured $745 million (including $150 million for co-investments) in total commitments with investors ranging from UK LGPS investment pools, a Dutch pension fund, re-ups from existing NextPower III ESG investors, KLP, a German occupational pension fund, and a large Nordic pension fund. NextEnergy Capital continues to build on its positive fundraising momentum with a number of investors around the globe currently in due diligence and the team continues to raise towards NPV ESG’s target of $1.5 billion ($2 billion hard cap).
Given the combination of both the lower costs of solar photovoltaic modules and higher power prices, NPV ESG is currently tracking well above its target IRR. With its first operational asset expected to pay dividends during the investment phase of the Fund, in the second half of 2024, NPV ESG leverages NEC’s track record of successful investments in the solar+ infrastructure sector since 2007, with over 400 utility-scale projects acquired and previous funds delivering superior financial returns to investors. NPV ESG continues to maintain a disciplined contracted revenue model with robust, credit-worthy counterparties enabling the Fund to generate long-term stable cashflows.
NPV ESG is classified as an Article 9 Fund under the EU SFDR providing tangible and measurable impact including biodiversity measures. Upon reaching its investment ceiling and delivering c.4-5GW, NPV ESG is forecasted to generate enough clean energy to power the equivalent of up to 1.1 million households per year and avoid an estimated fossil fuel consumption of up to nearly 220 million m3 of natural gas annually.
NPV ESG’s investment strategy targets the solar+ infrastructure sector in carefully selected OECD markets, with the objective of building significant portfolios in each target market, creating value with a hands-on approach, establishing an operational track record and divesting the portfolio before the end of the fund’s life in 2033.
Aldo Beolchini, CIO and Managing Partner at NextEnergy Capital, said:
“We are delighted to announce this latest acquisition for NPV ESG, which again demonstrates NEC as a market leader in the solar space with over 110MW of capacity added to NPV ESG over the last ten weeks. The Investment team continues to make significant progress in deploying capital into new attractive projects and we look forward to welcoming new investors into the future.”
Antonio Salvati, Managing Director NextPower V ESG at NextEnergy Capital, quoted:
“We are very pleased with the acquisition of our second Polish portfolio. Poland continues to be an excellent market backed by strong government support, power prices, and stalwart counterparties furthering our capacity to generate long-term stable cashflows. This c.50MW acquisition is yet another milestone achieved by the NPV ESG Investment team and signifies our enduring commitment to the solar+ infrastructure space, driving increasing returns for our investors and our mission to lead the transition to clean energy.”