It’s likely the group will use proceeds from the sale to reduce debt and recycle it into other projects. It will retain a significant presence in Ireland.
KPMG has been hired to sound out prospective buyers, according to industry publication PeakLoad, which first reported the planned asset sales.
While Greencoat Renewables wasn’t named by KPMG as the seller, details of the assets correlate to wind farms it owns in Ireland. Greencoat declined to comment.
PeakLoad said the assets being readied for sale include three wind farms in Co Cork; they are the 13.3MW Ballincollig Hill facility, the 9.3MW Garraneragh wind farm and the 100MW Knockacummer asset.
They also include the 14MW Beamhill wind farm in Co Donegal; the 20MW Gortahile wind farm in Co Laois; and the 9.2MW Knockalour asset in Co Wexford.
Greencoat listed on the Euronext Growth Market of Euronext Dublin and the AIM market of the London Stock Exchange in July 2017 and is currently invested in renewable generation and storage assets in the Republic of Ireland, Finland, France, Germany, Spain and Sweden.
Its total portfolio includes 39 wholly or partly-owned assets with a net installed capacity of more than 1.5GW. It has another 90MW of assets contracted to buy under the group’s forward sale model.
Greencoat has a market capitalisation of about €1.1bn. At the end of June this year, it had a gross asset value of just under €2.6bn and aggregate group debt of just over €1.3bn. At the end of that month, its shares were trading at a near 23pc discount to its net asset value.
In the first half of this year the company generated net cash of €113.6m, which equated to three times dividend cover. By the end of this year it expects to have distributed about €100m to shareholders via higher dividends and a €25m share buyback programme.
PeakLoad pointed out that of the assets up for sale through KPMG, Beam Hill is the oldest, having been commissioned in 2006. It will draw revenue under a power purchase agreement until the end of 2026. The newest of the assets being primed for sale is the Knockacummer wind farm, which was commissioned in late 2014.
Greencoat noted during the summer that its asset recycling activity is “progressing well”.
PeakLoad noted that all of the wind farms in Ireland being sold by Greencoat are still eligible for REFIT-1 tariffs, which are due to expire between March next year and the end of 2027. Those tariffs provide renewable energy generators with a minimum price for each unit of electricity they export to the grid.
Greencoat Renewables is marketing the portfolio of assets for sale as a life-extension or repowering opportunity, with all but one of the sites entitled to extend their lease agreements by five years.