Published: 10 Jun 2022, 07:00
NESF is pursuing a £350 million portfolio of assets, including battery storage and international solar. Image: NESF.
NextEnergy Solar Fund (NESF) has celebrated hitting a new milestone as its portfolio reaches 100 operating solar assets.
The latest 181kW commercial rooftop solar power installation is the final development under its venture with renewable energy developer Zestec.
It is located on the Holiday Inn in Nottinghamshire, and benefits from a 25 year power purchase agreement (PPA) for 100% of its generation.
NESF has added five rooftop solar assets to its portfolio with a combined capacity of 0.9MW as part of its partnership with Zestec, which was signed in March 2021. All have PPAs with the building tenants, and two benefit from government subsidised feed-in tariffs (FiT).
Zestec portfolio breakdown:
| NESF asset number | Rooftop solar asset | Location | Subsidy/PPA | Installed capacity (MW) | Cost (£m) | Remaining life of plant (Years) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 96 | Newfield | Cheshire | FiTs UK | 0.18 | 0.17 | 22.4 |
| 97 | JSC | Worcestershire | FiTs UK | 0.04 | 0.04 | 17.4 |
| 98 | Karcher | Oxfordshire | Subsidy-free | 0.3 | 0.23 | 23 |
| 99 | Dolphin | East Sussex | Subsidy-free | 0.21 | 0.15 | 24.6 |
| 100 | Holiday Inn | Nottinghamshire | Subsidy-free | 0.18 | 0.19 | 25 |
“NESF’s hundredth solar asset, in Nottinghamshire, marks another major milestone in short succession after announcing international co-investments and battery storage acquisitions,” said Ross Grier, UK managing director, NextEnergy Group.
“NESF has consistently delivered on strategy since its IPO in 2014, and the fact that this latest solar asset is based on the rooftop of an international hotel chain shows how far the solar sector has matured and developed, with it now accepted and embraced as a major energy asset class. As the cheapest and quickest to construct form of renewable energy, solar is vital to the transition to net zero and NESF is proud of the part it is playing in this transition.”
The company is pursuing a £350 million pipeline, including UK standalone energy storage, international solar assets and co-located battery storage projects via its retrofit program.
Construction of its 36MW subsidy-free Whitecross solar farm in Lincolnshire began in April 2022, and work is continuing on grid connection and construction mobilisation at its 50MW Hatherden subsidy-free solar farm. These mark the completion of the company’s 150MW subsidy-free solar allocation.