IGas has announced a move into solar farms, after agreeing joint development terms with renewable energy investor Iona Capital.
IGas will contribute its planning and infrastructure expertise, whilst Iona will provide non-recourse project finance. The two will jointly develop utility scale solar farms in the UK, which IGas says will be “initially leveraging the strong landowner relationships that IGas has through its long history of onshore oil and gas operations.” During the development phase, costs will be shared and throughout the project lifecycle, IGas and Iona will each own 50% of the project.
The first of what is expected to be several similar scale projects, will be situated in southern England and will be 25-40MW in size.
Stephen Bowler, IGas chief executive , said: “This is another example of how we can leverage the Group’s existing operational expertise as the UK’s largest onshore operator and use our existing business platform to play an important role in the UK’s transition to net zero.
“We are keen to develop our relationship with Iona and other partners as we seek to maximise value using existing assets and skillsets within the business.”
Nick Ross, Director of Iona Capital, added: “Given our focus on renewable and environmental investments in the UK over many years, the PV solar sector is a natural area for us. We are very pleased to enter into this partnership with IGas, given their extensive experience of energy project development in the UK.”