CORE celebrates ₤ 31m community owned solar PV refinancing deal

• A ₤ 31 million inflation linked debt refinancing has actually been safeguarded from institutional investment abrdn by Community Owned Renewable Energy Partners (CORE).

CORE-- a ₤ 50 million social collaboration in between charitable trust Power to Change and also Big Society Capital launched in 2017 and also structured by Finance Earth-- aims to bring solar farms into community possession, delivering environmental, social as well as financial benefits for the local communities where the assets are based.

It said that this investment pioneers institutional financing into the community renewable energy sector, leading the way for CORE and also Finance Earth to structure further financing offerings later on this year to make it possible for community-ownership as well as long lasting neighborhood benefits of the solar farms.

The financing will deliver a lasting, non-recourse, reliable, RPI-linked and fully amortising financial debt structure running for a 15-year tone until 2036. It was set up by Finance Earth, while investment to sustain the refinancing originated from Phoenix Group, a financing partner to abrdn.

"This refinancing with abrdn as well as Phoenix demonstrates that community energy schemes can be funded at scale, in partnership with like-minded institutions, and therefore produce substantial financial benefits for regional communities," Peter Jenkins, chair of CORE, claimed.

CORE solar farms have actually supported their local communities with over ₤ 300,000 of community benefit financing given that 2018. Indeed, in 2021 6 CORE solar farms created ₤ 60,000 of surplus profit, while in 2020 six farms advanced ₤ 195,000 in community benefit funds, with the cash then sustaining their regional communities during the COVID-19 pandemic.

One of these farms - Yealm Community Energy's Creacome solar farm - became the very first subsidy-free community solar project when it was linked to the grid in February 2020.