Investors

BlackRock increases UK renewables exposure

The asset manager has bought an 18MW facility from RWE’s recently listed subsidiary innogy, bringing the number of wind and solar assets it owns in the country to more than 40.

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A fund managed by BlackRock Real Assets has bought an 18MW wind farm in southern UK from RWE’s renewables spin-off innogy.

The Batsworthy Cross project in Devon began commercial operations earlier this year, about 10 years after the wind farm was first proposed by RWE. Appeals from local residents delayed the project but failed to prevent its construction.

BlackRock declined to disclose the investment value of the acquisition. It has appointed REG Power Management to oversee the project’s operations.

The deal is the first completed by innogy since it debuted on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange last month in an IPO valuing the company at €20 billion. The firm is a spin-off from RWE, which still owns 76 percent of the company. It owns all of the German utility’s renewables assets.

The investment in Batsworthy Cross means BlackRock now manages funds owning over 40 renewables projects in the UK across the wind and solar markets. Together with its investments in the US, France, Sweden and elsewhere, it has a total portfolio of about 2.5GW of renewables projects.

The asset manager also recently closed its Renewable Income Europe fund on €650 million, above its original €500 million target.