Santander UK, an investment bank, provided £25 million (~$31 million) funding to South Farm Solar, a subsidiary of global energy producer and service provider Voltalia, to support its construction and operation of a 49.9 MW new solar project that will deliver more than half of the City Corporation’s electricity.
South Farm is a 49.9 MW ground-mounted solar project near Spetisbury, Dorset, England. The project has been developed, constructed, operated and maintained by Voltalia. On-site grid connection has been secured with Southern Electric Power Distribution with an export capacity of 40MW, connecting to an existing tower with a 132kV overhead line. The South Farm site achieved grid connection certification in December 2022 and began providing the City Corporation with electricity in January.
Simon Holt, UK Country Manager at Voltalia, said: “Through our work with Santander UK in funding the South Farm project, we have been able to fully realize a brand new, substantial green energy project at South Farm, Dorset. We expect an increasing number of companies and organizations in the UK to switch to cleaner, sustainable, renewable energy supplies. We will continue to deliver a net-zero power purchase solution as our portfolio grows. The UK has the capacity, enthusiasm and sunshine to deliver many more of these projects in the coming decades. We hope that projects like South Farm add to the bankability and confidence in UK renewables.”
Howard Whitehead, Senior Relationship Director at Santander UK, said: “We are delighted to support South Farm with this funding, which builds on the long-standing relationship between Santander and Voltalia internationally. Santander UK is proud to support organizations such as Voltalia that are generating renewable energy in the UK, especially when it puts organizations like the City Corporation a huge step closer to achieving their goal of becoming carbon neutral in the future. This transaction demonstrates our continued support for standalone Government subsidy-free renewable energy generation assets. It is the first in which we have provided CPI hedging to a renewable energy client.”
According to Mercom’s Q1 2023 Solar Funding and M&A report, large-scale project funding came to $5.3 billion in 62 deals, a decrease of 46% compared to $9.8 billion in 52 deals in Q4 2022.
