Greencoat UK Wind PLC (LON:UKW) has been a beneficiary of the recent cold snap courtesy of rising power prices.
Gas soared as the Beast from the East hit and Britain shivered, but Stephen Lilley, Greencoat’s chief executive, said while a nice bonus, investors need to look at the five-year trend of wind speeds, not one week’s prices.
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January was windy and February on trend, he added.
Greencoat raised £340mln in new equity last year and is now looking for assets to buy to bulk up further a portfolio of 29 onshore and offshore UK assets.
In 2017, Greencoat made ten new investments or around 25% of wind assets that came onto the market, but that was exceptional, said Lilley.
Debt currently is about 19% of asset value, but the company has leeway to gear up to 40% if necessary.