Schroders Greencoat, a renewable investment manager, has acquired Stokeford Solar Farm on behalf of its clients. The acquisition is part of Schroders Greencoat’s UK flagship private markets fund, aimed at expanding renewable energy investments.
This 28.5MWp solar farm, located near Wareham in Dorset, was purchased from Innova and its joint venture partner, Will Bond, the landowner at Stokeford Farm. The farm was developed by Innova and is uniquely connected to the grid through a shared infrastructure with Alaska Wind Farm (8.0MWp), making it one of England’s few utility-scale shared solar-wind grid connections. The site achieved operational status on July 31, 2024, following successful design, engineering, and procurement phases managed by Innova’s in-house teams.
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The site was awarded a Contract for Difference in 2022 by the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, ensuring stability in revenue through government support. Hassan Bashir, senior investment manager at Innova, said: “We are delighted to announce the divestment of our fourth project from our DNO pipeline to a Schroders Greencoat-managed fund. The acquisition of the operational Stokeford Solar Farm marks a significant ramp-up in scale of new-build projects that Innova together with Schroders Greencoat are delivering, which contributes significantly towards our shared goal to deliver the UK’s net zero target. On behalf of Innova, I would like to thank our project partners and legal advisers at TLT LLP for their support through the sales process.”
This acquisition strengthened the partnership between Schroders Greencoat and Innova, marking the fourth project between the two firms from Innova’s development pipeline. Previous joint acquisitions include Carn Nicholas (10MWp), Bicker Fen (22.6MWp), and Newbold Pacey (27.8MWp), all bolstering the UK’s renewable infrastructure.
Matt Tingle, investment sirector at Schroders Greencoat, highlighted the long-term impact of the acquisition. “This acquisition is the latest in our partnership with Innova, which has now seen four projects transacted, as we work together towards our ambition of meeting the UK’s demand for clean affordable energy, and the Government’s target of 70GW of solar capacity by 2035. Stokeford has the potential to provide investors with the long-term, inflation-linked cashflows, which our fund is designed to deliver. We’re looking forward to continuing to work with Innova as we build on our existing portfolio of installed UK solar capacity,” said Tingle.
