Greencoat UK Wind (
www.greencoat-ukwind.com) has acquired the Stroupster wind farm in Caithness (about 10 miles north of Wick) in an £85 million deal.
The London-based renewable-energy investment group bought the wind farm from BayWa AG a month after the German group finished commissioning it. Greencoat said Stroupster is a high-quality addition to its portfolio, which is notable for its Scottish content; it has a portfolio of 17 wind farms in the UK, including six in Scotland.
Chairman Tim Ingram said that it continues to pursue other short-term acquisition opportunities, and it is understood to be interested in buying more wind farms in Scotland.
Greencoat agreed to buy Stroupster only a few weeks after the Department of Energy ruled that new wind farms will be excluded from the Renewables Obligation subsidy scheme from next April.
A company spokesman said: “We invest in already-operating UK wind farms that are completely unaffected by the changes. There remains a huge pool of such wind assets — built or in construction — that we could acquire. As such, we remain very happy that the outlook for investment opportunities in UK wind farms is encouraging.”
The Stroupster wind farm has 13 turbines and a capacity of 29.9MW. It can sell its output to utility companies at a set price under the Renewables Obligation Certificates scheme.