Investment company Atrato Onsite Energy has acquired a 50MW ready-to-build solar project in Richmond, north Yorkshire.
The project, which will feature ground mounted solar, will be constructed under a fully wrapped engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC) contract, and is expected to be operational in Q4 2023.
Atrato will invest a total of £38m over a 12-month period to acquire and construct the project, with energisation scheduled for Q2 2024.
UK developer Harmony Energy will support Atrato with the delivery of the project.
Atrato will run a competitive process across corporate and utility offtakers for the sale and purchase of electricity generated by the project.
Gurpreet Gujral, managing director of Atrato Partners, the Investment Adviser to the company, said: “We are pleased to announce this acquisition which is our largest solar energy project to date.
“At IPO we stated our intention to build a diversified portfolio of behind-the-meter and front-of-the-meter solar assets whilst maintaining one of the lowest sensitivities to power prices in the sector.
“This brings us a significant step closer in delivering on our strategy.”
Harmony Energy received unanimous approval from Richmondshire District Council for the construction of the 40MW solar farm in early November 2022.
At the time, director of Harmony Energy, James Ritchie, said: “We are thrilled this important renewable development can proceed.
“As with all our developments there will be an annual community fund to benefit local projects.
“This is in addition to the significant business rates that will be paid and benefit the wider community.”
Atrato has been rapidly expanding its UK solar portfolio and recently confirmed an investment of £29m into two solar projects.
The projects, which are situated in Northamptonshire and Lancashire, have a combined generation capacity of 29MW and both will be operational by the end of 2023.
The first project, a 28MW ground-mounted solar project in Wellingborough, Northamptonshire, has been acquired from Heliofidem UK with the project set to be completed in Q4 of 2023.
Atrato also reached financial close on a 1MW rooftop solar project based in Preston, Lancashire.
The project has a 16-year power purchase agreement with Huntapac Produce, a vegetable producer based in the UK.
Image credit: Harmony Energy
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