Tilt Renewables said it will pay back A$260m (€147m) to its stockholders after reviewing capital requirements and the impact of COVID-19.
The Australian wind developer’s balance sheet includes A$535m of unrestricted cash, mainly made up of proceeds from its sale of the Snowtown 2 wind farm in December 2019.
The cash sum does not include cash commitments for the Dundonnell and Waipipi wind farms said Tilt, which are currently under construction and fully funded.
Tilt has considered the capital it needs to progress its “most promising” mid-to-late stage development projects, as well as the potential impacts of the COVID-19 on its assets and has determined the level of excess capital that may be “better utilised” if directly in the hands of shareholders.
Tilt chief executive Deion Campbell said: “This is a great opportunity for Tilt to let its 8100 shareholders benefit direction from the highly successful sale of Snowtown 2, whilst still leaving plenty of cash available for us to pursue growth opportunities, including from our industry-leading development pipeline.”
He said the timing of the capital return would “hopefully provide some relief to any shareholders who might be struggling with the impact of COVID-19”.
Progress for the higher priority development projects is generally in line with expectations, said Tilt.
The most progressed project in the developer’s pipeline is the Rye Park wind farm in New South Wales.
Tilt is preparing an application to vary the projects’ planning approval, with a tip height modification.
The company said it expects to make an investment decision for Rye Park in 2021.