SSE sells stake in its Scottish Clyde wind farm
Energy giant SSE has sold a stake in its Clyde wind farm to Aim-listed Greencoat UK Wind and a pensions partnership for £355m.
UKW will acquire 28.2 per cent of Clyde and GLIL will acquire 21.7 per cent in the deal which is expected to complete on complete on 18 March. SSE will continue to hold 50.1 per cent.
One the Clyde extension is complete, the Greater Manchester Pension Fund and London Pensions Fund Authority's joint equity stake will be diluted to 30 per cent with SSE retaining 70 per cent.
The announcement means SSE has beat its target to cut its debt by £1bn through the sale of non-care assets and existing or in-development onshore wind farms.
Martin Pibworth, SSE's Managing Director, Wholesale, said: "We are pleased to confirm the sale of a stake in our flagship Clyde wind farm to UKW and GLIL."
"The sale represents another significant step in a programme of disposals to recycle capital and optimise our wind farm pipeline. The proceeds from this disposal will help to support our future investments in a balanced range of energy assets."
Laurence Fumagalli, partner at Greencoat Capital, added: "There remains an exciting pipeline of future acquisition opportunities and we believe that our model positions us competitively in the market to acquire operational assets and makes us an attractive partner for utility vendors."
The Clyde wind farm has a current capacity of 349.6 megawatts, rising by 172.8 megawatts after the extension.