NextEnergy Solar fund has acquired its first operational solar farm in the UK.

The 6.1MW project in Somerset was purchased for a consideration of £7.11 million. The solar farm was connected to the grid in April 2013, making it eligible to claim 1.6ROCs.

NextEnergy Solar Fund has revealed that it will retain all the associated revenue from the solar farm since its energisation. Commenting on the acquisition, Kevin Lyon, chairman of Next Energy Solar Fund, said: “Acquiring this operating asset represents the first significant step in deploying the capital raised via NextEnergy Solar Fund’s IPO, in accordance with its investment policy. 

“The plant has a lengthy operating history which enabled us to conduct effective due diligence and evaluate the quality of its construction, components and historical performance. We look forward to announcing further progress on investing the IPO proceeds shortly.”

Speaking at Solar Media's Large Scale Solar UK Conference in Newark recently, Abid Kazim, UK managing director, Next Energy Capital, laid out in no uncertain terms the quality of service solar asset buyers and investors should expect, and how to use performance management to attain that quality. Watch highlights from his presentation below: