Greencoat UK Wind’s portfolio generated £128m (€149m) in revenues in 2019, compared with £117m in 2018, according to the renewable infrastructure investor’s results for the year.
The group’s investments generated 2385 gigawatt hours of electricity, compared with 2003GWh in the previous year.
Investments in Stronelairg, Dunmaglass and Tom nan Clach wind farms increased the portfolio to 35 operating wind farm investments in 2019, taking generating capacity to 979MW and gross asset value (GAV) to £2442.8m.
Last year Greencoat UK Wind invested in Douglas West and agreed to acquire Glen Kyllachy, Windy Rig and Twentyshilling. The wind farms, all of which are subsidy free, are expected to become operational in 2021.
On 20 February 2020, the group entered into an agreement to acquire the 18.8MW ROC-accredited Slieve Divena 2 wind farm from SSE for £51m. The transaction is expected to complete on 30 March 2020.
Greencoat UK Wind chairman Tim Ingram said: “2019 represented another significant year of growth for Greencoat UK Wind. During the year, we made nearly £600m of investments and raised over £500m of new equity.
“Net cash generation remained strong, leading to a robust dividend cover of 1.4x despite portfolio generation and power prices being below budget for the period. For 2020, the Company is targeting a dividend of 7.1 pence per share, increased for the seventh consecutive year in line with RPI.
“We were pleased to announce the acquisition of Slieve Divena II last week and our pipeline of acquisition opportunities remains very healthy.”