London, May 20th, 2024 – NextEnergy Capital is delighted to announce that a large UK defined benefit scheme has committed to NextPower UK ESG (“NPUK”) taking total funds committed to date to £625m, 25% above its target of £500m. NPUK continues to actively fundraise towards its hard cap of £1b, with several investors currently in late-stage due diligence and further capital expected to be closed in the following months.

NPUK is a private UK solar fund that focuses on acquiring utility-scale solar and Battery Storage (“BESS”) assets at the ready-to-build stage, constructing them through energisation in order to build a large operating portfolio of solar and BESS assets. Once the assets are operational, NPUK monetises its power sales through a fully contracted strategy which takes a hands-on approach to risk mitigation and value creation whilst optimising assets over the fund’s life. Since its launch in August 2022, NPUK has already been able to make two distribution payments to its investor base alongside reporting impressive Net Asset Value (“NAV”) growth.

The success of NPUK is in part attributable to the swift deployment of capital which started just seven weeks after the fund’s first close with the acquisition of two operational seed assets, Llanwern, (South Wales, 75MW), and Strensham (Worcestershire, 40MW) that had been built for the fund.

Since then, NPUK has acquired a further eight UK utility-scale solar assets, giving it a diversified portfolio of ten assets with a capacity of 497MW. NPUK expects to announce that several of its construction assets will commence operations through Q2 and Q3 2024, further boosting the fund’s performance.

NPUK is on track to at least achieve its return and dividend targets, with dividends to date being significantly above the target. Once fully deployed at approximately 2GW capacity, NPUK will provide enough clean energy to power around 500,000 UK households per year, making a significant ESG impact in the UK.

Michael Bonte-Friedheim, NextEnergy Group CEO and Founder, said:
“We are delighted to mark yet another significant milestone with NextPower UK ESG, and I am proud to announce that a UK defined benefit scheme has joined us, bringing the total funds committed to over c.£625m, which is 25% above the target of £500m. This is a testament to NextEnergy Capital’s leadership in the solar energy sector. As a private new-build solar strategy that focuses on acquiring utility-scale solar assets at the ready-to-build stage in the UK, NPUK investors benefit from the market leading expertise we bring alongside our hands-on approach to value creation and asset optimisation.”

Shane Swords, Managing Director and Head of Investor Relations at NextEnergy Capital, commented:
“Since its inception in August 2022, NPUK has demonstrated solid progress, and has already distributed strong dividends to our investors while showcasing significant NAV. This success is underpinned by a large pipeline and swift capital deployment, which commenced just seven weeks after the fund’s first close, with the fund now having nearly 500MW. The Fund will provide clean energy generation for approximately 500,000 UK households annually.

All NEC Funds are experiencing strong fundraising momentum, which can be attributed to our track record, lengthy experience in the sector and the value that investors are now attributing to specialist managers.”