Bluefield fund acquires 70-MWp solar park in UK

Bluefield Solar Income Fund Ltd. acquired the operational 70-MWp Bradenstoke solar park in the U.K. for a cash consideration of £89.0 million.

The ground-mounted solar photovoltaic plant is located on a former Royal Air Force airbase in Wiltshire, and is accredited under the U.K.'s renewable obligation certificate, or ROC, regime with a tariff of 1.4 ROCs, according to a Jan. 11 news release.

Based on S&P Global Market Intelligence data, Bradenstoke was previously owned by a Siem Industries SA subsidiary, operated by British Solar Renewables Ltd., and has a five-year power purchase agreement with Shell Energy Europe Ltd.

Bluefield financed the deal with its revolving credit facility, which has been extended to September 2022 and increased to £100.0 million through an accordion mechanism.

The deal increases the U.K.-focused income fund's total outstanding debt to £370.4 million and its total installed capacity to 612 MWp.

Bluefield said it will receive the economic benefit of all cash flows from the plant from April 1, 2020.