Northern Ireland Business Awards 2018

8 SME NEWS / Northern Ireland Business Awards 2018 Foresight Acquires 52 Turbine Northern Ireland Onshore Wind Portfolio From SPL Foresight Group LLP has announced the acquisition of 100%of the equity of Simple Power Limited (SPL) for an undisclosed sum, comprising a portfolio of 52 onshore sub-250kWsingle wind turbines located across Northern Ireland. SPL has the largest distributed wind portfolio in Northern Ireland, with a total output in excess of 12MW across all the turbine sites, which benefit from some of the highest wind speeds in Europe. The 52 wind turbines are fully operational and OFGEM accredited. The portfolio qualifies for participation in the recently launched I-SEM market in Ireland. Each turbine benefits from a standardised lease, grid connection and PPA, with long-term fixed price O&M agreements in place with a number of experienced third- party contractors. In the past five years, Foresight has mobilised investment of more than £200 million into the Renewable Energy sector in Northern Ireland building a portfolio of 12 Bioenergy and Waste projects alongside this wind portfolio. Together, these projects generate enough clean energy to power the equivalent of some 66,000 homes, and Foresight has a strong pipeline of opportunities in Northern Ireland for future deployment. In Northern Ireland, the share of Renewable Energy Generation from projects that Foresight has invested in is 8.1%. James Taggart, Investment Manager, Foresight Group commented: “SPL’s wind portfolio is a fantastic acquisition with a volume of well positioned and operational single wind turbines around Northern Ireland. The portfolio has shown strong performance to date. We look forward to working closely with the Simple Power management team to continue the portfolio’s success and to further establish Foresight as a leader in the renewable energy sector.” Foresight manages a diversified portfolio of clean energy infrastructure assets. This acquisition boosts Foresight’s wind portfolio capacity to 115MW to complement the 115MW from 32 EfW plants, 1.1GW from 80 Solar farms, 45MW of Battery Storage plants and 160MW of reserve power. Foresight is currently monitoring a large pipeline of both domestic and international wind opportunities for future deployment over the next 6-12 months. ,