(Bloomberg) — Bluefield Solar Income Fund Ltd., listed in
London, bought a ground-mounted power plant for 56.5 million
pounds ($84 million) in Norfolk, England.
The solar farm has a capacity of 49.9 megawatts, Bluefield
said Monday in an e-mailed statement. The acquisition takes the
fund’s combined capacity to more than 250 megawatts.
Solar-energy developers in Britain are rushing to complete
projects before April, when the government will end subsidies to
plants of more than 5 megawatts under its Renewables Obligation
program. Thereafter developers must compete with onshore wind
farms for premium payments for their power as part of reforms to
the energy market.
Electricity from onshore wind currently costs about $85 a
megawatt-hour, cheaper than coal-fired power at $90.70. Solar
averages about $137, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
The U.K. on Feb. 26 published the winners of its first
subsidy-allocation round as part of the new measures. There were
15 successful onshore-wind applications, five solar and two
offshore wind.
To contact the reporter on this story:
Louise Downing in London at
ldowning4@bloomberg.net
To contact the editors responsible for this story:
Reed Landberg at
landberg@bloomberg.net
Tony Barrett, Alastair Reed