Cubico targets 500MW of UK solar and wind in new joint venture

Over 500MW of new UK solar PV and onshore wind is to be developed by a joint venture between Cubico Sustainable Investments and Peel NRE.

The duo are to originate, develop and operate the portfolio of projects over the next 5-10 years, made up of a combination of grid scale and private wire developments, providing renewable electricity to the grid or directly to end-users to help decarbonise energy intensive businesses.

Peel NRE – which is part of regeneration business Peel L&P – was launched in January this year. It is to lead on identifying sites and early-stage development activities across the UK, using its own estate where appropriate. 

The newly formed Peel Cubico Renewables joint venture will bring together the expertise of each organisation with the intention of being at the forefront of the net zero energy transition. Rob Tate, Peel NRE’s development director for energy, said that in working together, the two companies “can scale up and increase the pace of which we can provide the country with more renewable energy generation to support national and regional net zero carbon targets as well as delivering the potential for significant growth for both businesses”.

Cubico, meanwhile, has an installed capacity of over 4GW across 12 countries in Europe, the Americas and Oceania. In 2019, it sold a minority stake in its UK solar and wind portfolio to infrastructure fund GLIL. The fund acquired 49% of Cubico’s projects, which included 250MW of renewables across 18 sites, with Cubico continuing to manage the projects on a day-to-day basis.

This followed it raising around £272 million to re-finance the portfolio – which at the time had a capacity of 200MW – in February of the same year.