Solarplicity, one of the UK’s leading renewable energy providers, has disposed of a UK-wide portfolio of  133MW of solar assets, in a move described by chief executive David Elbourne as “a major step in the evolution of Solarplicity as we develop from a solar construction group into a vertically integrated energy group.”

The transaction saw  22 ground-based and six roof-top solar assets transferred. Solarplicity Service  will continue to operate and maintain the portfolio over the long term.

The company said the deal, whose advisor was Osborne Clarke, releases capital for Solarplicity to invest further. Elbourne said the company was, “investing in radical new ways to provide lower energy prices for our customers without any cost to the environment. We are determined to end the ‘same old, same old’ of the big six and provide UK homes and businesses with cost-effective, green alternatives.”

James Watson, Osborne Clarke Energy Projects Partner, said the sale, “sees Solarplicity evolve from solar construction group into a vertically integrated energy group with specialist expertise in servicing the social housing market.”