The Renewables Infrastructure Group (TRIG), which entered the offshore wind market with the recently acquired 14.7% indirect equity interest in Sheringham Shoal, sees further investment opportunities in the sector, according to its annual results for 2017.
TRIG said that previously commissioned UK renewable energy capacity still owned by developers is expected to continue to provide deal flow for the company for several years ahead.
Future acquisition opportunities that TRIG sees lie in areas which may include further offshore wind and storage, as well as projects that may become commercially viable without subsidy, such as onshore wind projects and solar PV as deployment costs continue to fall.
Discussing the renewables growth opportunities, the company said that the rapidly growing offshore wind sector in the UK is likely to match the capacity of onshore wind and solar once current construction is built out. Looking at the capacity of operational projects, TRIG pointed out that UK operating offshore wind farms now have a combined 5.1GW of generating capacity with further build-out being projected, and Germany has a further 5.3GW of operating projects.
The company’s investment policy allows investment in sectors other than onshore wind and solar PV of up to 20% of portfolio value. Last year’s investments in the Broxburn battery storage project and Sheringham Shoal offshore wind farm amounted in aggregate to approximately 9% of TRIG’s portfolio value at 31 December 2017.