Legal & General Makes Major Clean Energy Investment

Legal & General Capital has invested in clean energy investment and asset management business, NTR Wind Management Ltd, a subsidiary of NTR plc, and committed to build an onshore wind portfolio through the first close of a fund targeting €250m.

The fund will build up to 270MW in capacity, which could generate sufficient electricity to power up to  170,000 homes and avoid more than 300,000 tonnes of CO2 per annum across the UK and Ireland.

Legal & General’s clean energy investment strategy is focusing on wind and solar power in the short term.  Latest innovations in technology mean investing at scale will now allow for a continued fall in price for the end consumer.  Legal & General has a target of spending £15bn on UK infrastructure, with a focus on sectors that are key for the success of the UK generally: housing and urban regeneration, transport and clean energy. It is just starting its investment into clean energy, having spent £6.6bn on UK infrastructure so far.

Laura Mason, Director of Direct Investments at Legal & General Capital, said: “Legal & General’s investment in the UK’s energy infrastructure focuses on wind and solar power. Renewable energy is part of the solution to ensure the lights stay on in the UK. It is clean, green, and in the future it will be cheap. Investment into new energy technology will deliver massive leaps in renewables capacity, and drive down the household bills of renewable energy for customers.”

Legal & General has committed to fund up to 47.5% of the €250m fund. NTR will also be a significant investor in the fund with a €50m commitment. Legal & General and NTR plan to grow the fund in order to create a platform for institutional investors with an interest in the clean energy sector, accelerating the development of this market.

Rosheen McGuckian, Chief Executive Officer of NTR plc, added: “This is a very exciting partnership for NTR, where we will be matching the patient capital of Legal & General with our own track record in acquiring, constructing and operating wind projects. We have a rapidly growing pipeline of construction ready onshore wind assets and we are delighted that Legal & General have both committed to this, our first wind fund to include other investors, and to working with us on additional clean energy investment opportunities.”

John Bromley, Head of Clean Energy at Legal & General Capital, commented: “The Paris climate agreement shows a global recognition that the world’s energy system needs transformational change, but for this to happen, hard investment decisions need to be made to deliver reductions in carbon emissions and benefits to energy consumers. Legal & General sees wind and solar power as key components to delivering greener and cheaper energy in the long term. By using its balance sheet capital to pave the way for large scale, long term institutional investment, Legal & General is channelling its investment might into helping revolutionise these technologies for the benefit of investors, consumers, and wider society.”

NTR has already acquired the first four assets for the fund, which total €62m and will provide a combined capacity of 55MW. These include large multiple turbine wind assets located in Scotland, Northern Ireland and Republic of Ireland that are ready for construction with land, planning consent and grid connection agreements all in place.

In addition to its direct investment in the fund, Legal & General has partnered with NTR in order to explore further prospects to invest in the clean energy sector. This will offer potential benefits for the wider Legal & General Group, with opportunities for both Legal & General Retirement and LGIM’s clients on a range of dealflow.

NTR plc is focused on the wind energy sector, and has been involved in the construction and operation of 1.75GW of wind projects across US, UK and Ireland since 1999.  It specialises in small and medium scale, long-term, high yielding assets.