Octopus Renewables Infrastructure Trust PLC (LSE:ORIT) (ORIT) has agreed to acquire four newly operational Irish solar farms with a combined 199 megawatts (MW) of output for a cost of €160 million.
Microsoft Corporation has already been signed up to a 15-year agreement to buy the energy produced by the farms, with ORIT also funding the purchase with an €80.6 million debt facility provided by Allied Irish Banks and La Banque Postale.
The new additions, which were developed by Statkraft Ireland under the trust's oversight, take its total capacity of operational assets to 735MW, enough renewable energy to power around 50,000 homes and avoid around 60,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions per year.
A fifth site of 42MW nearby is expected to become operational later this year, with an acquisition planned once operational, partly funded through an increase to the debt facility by up to €25.8 million pre-agreed with the lenders.