A 50MW solar farm in Lincolnshire has been acquired by Gresham House from Anesco, as part of a three-year development and construction partnership valued in excess of £100 million.
Earlier this year, Anesco and Gresham House announced that they were partnering on a 200MW ground mounted solar PV portfolio in the UK. The partnership will see solar projects developed across the country, ranging in size up to 50MW.
As well as developing the solar sites, all engineering, procurement and construction will be handled by Anesco, with the company also providing long term operations and maintenance once the sites are energised.
Low Farm is the first project to transact under the partnership. Located near Skegness, it covers an area of 60-hectares and will be capable of generating enough clean energy to power an around 13,500 homes, while helping to save 12,000 tonnes of carbon emissions annually.
Construction is expected to begin next year in accordance with grid connection timetables. The site will have a lifespan of 40 years, after which time it will be returned to its natural state.
Low Farm will benefit from significant ecological enhancements, which could result in an estimated biodiversity net gain of more than 130%. These plans include the creation of wildflower meadows and habitats that are specially designed to support some of the UK’s most at-risk species.
Sarah Hitchcox, business development director at Anesco, commented: “Low Farm is the first large-scale solar project we’ve advanced to the investment ready stage as part of our partnership with Gresham House, with a second site soon to follow.
“Through our partnership, we are proud to be supporting the UK’s transition to net zero, while demonstrating the full lifecycle capabilities we can offer investors, from development through to EPC, maintenance and optimisation.”
Wayne Cranstone, Gresham House Investment Director, said: “We are pleased to be acquiring another large scale, sensitively developed solar park from Anesco to add to our portfolio. This is the first one under our new partnership with Anesco and it is particularly pleasing to see the environmental benefits the development brings which are important given our focus on environmental, social and governance matters.”
Anesco is a market leader in renewable energy, managing the development, design, construction, maintenance and market optimisation of renewable energy and energy efficiency projects. The company has constructed more than 100 solar farms, while its O&M service is monitoring more than 24,000 sites.
For more information, please visit www.anesco.co.uk or www.greshamhouse.com
About Anesco
Anesco is a market leader in renewable energy, managing the development, design, construction, maintenance and market optimisation of renewable energy and energy efficiency projects. The company has constructed more than 100 solar farms, while its O&M service is monitoring more than 24,000 sites.
Anesco was the first company in the UK to achieve subsidy-free solar; first to introduce utility-scale energy storage and first to co-locate energy storage with existing solar sites to meet the ROC requirements. To date, the technologies the company has deployed and manage are generating over 1GW of renewable energy. www.anesco.co.uk
About Gresham House
Gresham House New Energy is the clean energy division of specialist alternative investment manager Gresham House.
The Gresham House New Energy team has a proven track record in developing and operating renewable generating and energy storage assets. . Gresham House Asset Management currently manages approximately 6600MW of solar, wind and energy storage projects combined, including both unsubsidised solar and wind assets acquired in 2020.
Gresham House Asset Management is the FCA authorised operating business of Gresham House plc, a London Stock Exchange quoted specialist alternative asset manager. Gresham House is committed to operating responsibly and sustainably, taking the long view in delivering sustainable investment solutions.
For more information visit www.greshamhouse.com
