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Community energy company, Big60Million, has launched a £20.4 million solar mini-bond portfolio, giving people the opportunity to invest in its 34MW of solar power.
The five-year fixed-term solar mini-bonds are priced at £60 each and allow investors to earn 6 per cent gross interest per year.
The portfolio will include three solar bonds, seeking to raise £20.4 million by 27 May this year. There are: an £8.6 million offer for the 14.8MW Atherstone solar farm; a £5.8 million offer for the 10.3MW Southam solar farm and a £6 million offer for the 9.2MW Paddock Wood solar farm.
The three solar farms connected to the National Grid in March 2015 and are fully constructed and operational. They were built by solar power developer, Belectric, which will run and maintain them.
The farms will generate steady cash flows to service bond repayments. They will receive a 20-year inflation-linked government subsidy of 1.4 Renewable Obligation Certificates (ROCs) paid for each MWh of electricity generated, and will also make money from the sale of electricity into the National Grid network.
Big60Million chief executive Toddington Harper said the aim of the investments is to “allow people to share in the profits of its solar farms” and “help combat climate change, improve energy security and protect the environment”.
Big60Million is a new type of community benefit energy company, and its nationwide “Power to the People” campaign aims to give all 60 million people in the UK an opportunity to take part in and benefit from the clean energy revolution.
The company’s first solar bond offer for the Willersey solar farm in August 2014, raised £4 million and was almost 20 per cent oversubscribed at financial close.
The Department of Energy and Climate Change (Decc) expects that by 2015 it should be the norm for communities to be offered shared ownership of onshore renewables projects.
Energy secretary Ed Davey said: “The right to shared ownership will give communities the ability to invest in green power on their doorstep – reaping the financial investment and ensuring these developments stay tethered to their local communities.”
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