First Standalone Sustainability Report Publication

RNS Number : 4517F

NextEnergy Solar Fund Limited

07 November 2022

 

LEI: 213800ZPHCBDDSQH5447

7 November 2022

NextEnergy Solar Fund Limited

("NESF" or the "Company")

Publication of First Standalone Sustainability Report

NextEnergy Solar Fund, the specialist solar and energy storage climate impact fund with a combined installed power capacity of 865MW, is pleased to announce it has today published its first in-depth standalone sustainability report.

The report goes beyond the Company's immediate sustainability obligations by providing in-depth details on the Company's sustainability journey, its proprietary approach to biodiversity, and its industry leading ESG initiatives, that deliver a real environmental and social impact. The report covers the Company's ESG performance over the financial year 2021/22 whilst articulating how the Company builds its sustainability strategy around the three pillars of NextEnergy Solar Fund's Sustainability Framework, which are material to the Company's Environmental, Social, and Governance ("ESG") approach. These three pillars are:

· Climate change

· Biodiversity

· Human rights

The report shares many detailed case studies of NESF's industry leading approach, including seizing the opportunity to lead on biodiversity by supporting the Global Goal for Nature's targets of "nature-positive by 2030", and "nature-recovery by 2050." Also, playing a key role in improving human rights through the solar supply chain with the launch of the Solar Stewardship Initiative, with Giulia Guidi, Head of ESG at NextEnergy Capital, contributing her extensive ESG knowledge in this industry wide project to develop confidence in how, where, and by whom, solar products are manufactured.

The United Nations Sustainable Development Goals ("SDGs") act as reference points for NESF's progress against the Company's high-level ESG goals and also inform the Company's high-level decisions. NESF's sustainability report summarises the Company's alignment with those SDGs that are most relevant to it and thereby acknowledges the direct and indirect impacts the Company has within the environment and communities it operates in, alongside measuring those impacts where possible.

This report enhances NESF's transparency by explaining how the Company approaches ESG and how its sustainable performance indicators are reported, capturing each aspect of "E", "S" and "G", including climate change, water, circular economy, community impact, supply chain, and biodiversity. For climate-related metrics, NESF uses the Green Investment Group's Green Analytics team to independently calculate the CO _2e emissions avoided of the portfolio. This ensures a high standard of delivery, transparency and continuity in relation to its positive contribution to climate change mitigation. As a result, NESF is able to quantify the substantive positive impact generated by its operating activities.

NESF is committed to continuously improve the accuracy, scope and transparency of its ESG and sustainability reporting. The full NextEnergy Solar Fund Sustainability Report can be found on the Company's website here: https://www.nextenergysolarfund.com/esg/transparency-and-reporting/

Kevin Lyon, Chairman of NextEnergy Solar Fund commented:

"We believe that a rigorous approach to ESG, combined with a team that is genuinely passionate about generating a more sustainable future, provides intrinsic value to NESF shareholders beyond financial returns.  We always strive for excellence in both our underlying asset performance and our reporting.  The fund classifies as Article 9 under the SFDR regulation and has already disclosed according to these obligations.  NESF's first standalone and industry-leading sustainability report, led by Josephine Bush, Chair of the ESG committee, and Giulia Guidi, Head of ESG at NextEnergy Capital, is part of our progressive environmental, social and governance strategy to increase transparency and drive forward our ambitious best practice reporting to exceed stakeholder and market expectations."

Michael Bonte-Friedheim, CEO of NextEnergy Group said:

"NESF's first in-depth standalone sustainability report is the result of the continued hard work and commitment in integrating ESG principles and actions into the heart of NESF. By identifying, aligning and measuring, NESF's sustainability framework does not only show the progress made during the period, but also identifies and reduces risk within NESF, making its strategy more sustainable.  I would like to thank the entire team for the tremendous amount of work and detail that went into the first Sustainability Report and for continuing to implement NESF's ESG principles, at every level of the fund, which are delivering a demonstrable positive impact."

For further information: NextEnergy Capital Group Michael Bonte-Friedheim	020 3746 0700 [e-mail]
Aldo Beolchini
Ross Grier
Peter Hamid (Investor Relations)
RBC Capital Markets	020 7653 4000
Matthew Coakes
Kathryn Deegan
Cenkos Securities	020 7397 8900
James King
William Talkington
Camarco	020 3781 8334
Owen Roberts
Eddie Livingstone-Learmonth
Ocorian Administration (Guernsey) Limited	014 8174 2642
Kevin Smith

Notes to Editors¹:

About NextEnergy Solar Fund

NESF is a specialist solar and energy storage climate impact fund.  The Company is structured as a renewable energy investment company listed on the premium segment of the London Stock Exchange that invests in utility-scale solar power plants and energy storage.  The Company may invest up to 30% of its gross asset value in non-UK OECD countries, 15% in solar-focused private infrastructure funds, and 10% in energy storage.

NESF currently has a diversified portfolio comprising of the following:

Solar PV:

· 100 operating solar assets across the UK and Italy (primarily on agricultural, industrial, and commercial sites)

· A 50MW co-investment into a Spanish solar project alongside NextPower III ESG, currently under construction

· A 210MW co-investment into a Portuguese solar project alongside NextPower III ESG, currently under construction

· A UK solar project under construction (Whitecross 36MW)

· A ready-to-build UK solar project (Hatherden 50MW)

· A $50m commitment into NextPower III ESG (a private solar infrastructure fund providing exposure to both operating and under construction, international solar assets)

Energy Storage:

Joint Venture Partnership with Eelpower:

· A 50MW standalone battery storage project in Fife, Scotland, currently under construction (part of a £300m joint venture with Eelpower)

· A portfolio of 250MW pre-construction standalone battery storage projects in the East of England

Co-located programme:

· First site identified for a 6MW co-located battery storage project at North Norfolk Solar Farm

The NESF portfolio has a combined installed power capacity of 865MW (excluding NextPower III MW on an equivalent look-through basis).

As at 30 June 2022, the Company had an unaudited gross asset value of £1,198m, being the aggregate of the net asset value of the ordinary shares, the fair value of the preference shares and the amount of NESF Group debt outstanding, and an unaudited net asset value of £717.2m.

NESF's investment objective is to provide ordinary shareholders with attractive risk-adjusted returns, principally in the form of regular dividends, by investing in a diversified portfolio of solar energy and energy storage infrastructure assets. The majority of NESF's long-term cash flows are inflation-linked via UK government subsidies.

For further information on NESF please visit www. nextenergysolarfund.com

Commitment to ESG

NESF is committed to ESG principles and responsible investment which make a meaningful contribution to reducing CO2 emissions through the generation of clean solar power.  NESF will only select investments that meet the requirements of NEC Group's Sustainable Investment Policy.  Based on this policy, NESF benefits from NEC's rigorous ESG due diligence on each investment.  NESF is committed to reporting on its ESG performance in accordance with the UN Sustainable Development Goals framework and the EU Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation.

NESF has been awarded the London Stock Exchange's Green Economy Mark and has been designated a Guernsey Green Fund by the Guernsey Financial Services Commission.

Article 9

NESF is classified under Article 9 of the EU Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation and EU Taxonomy Regulation.

NESF's sustainability-related disclosures in the financial services sector in accordance with Regulation (EU) 2019/2088 can be accessed on the ESG section of both the NESF website ( nextenergysolarfund.com/esg/ ) & NEC Group website ( nextenergycapital.com/sustainability/transparency-and-reporting/ ).

About NextEnergy Group

NESF is managed by NextEnergy Capital, part of the NextEnergy Group.  NextEnergy Group was founded in 2007 to become a leading market participant in the international solar sector. Since its inception, it has been active in the development, construction, and ownership of solar assets across multiple jurisdictions. NextEnergy Group operates via its three business units: NextEnergy Capital (Investment Management), WiseEnergy (Operating Asset Management) and Starlight (Asset Development).

NextEnergy Capital

NextEnergy Capital comprises the Group's investment management activities.  To date, NEC has invested in over 350 individual solar plants for a capacity in excess of 2.4GW across it institutional funds.  www.nextenergycapital.com

●	NextEnergy Solar Fund ("NESF") is a solar infrastructure investment company focused on the UK and other OECD countries, which is listed on the premium segment of the London Stock Exchange.  It currently owns 865MW spread among 100 individual operating assets in the UK and Italy, comprising an unaudited gross asset value of £1,198m.  NESF is one of the largest listed solar energy investment companies in the world.
●	NextPower II ("NPII") a private fund made up of 105 individual operating solar power plants and an installed capacity of 149MW, focused on consolidating the substantial, highly fragmented Italian solar market.  NPII was successfully divested in January 2022, a 2016 vintage vehicle that generated net IRRs in excess of its gross target of 10-12%.
●	NextPower III ESG ("NPIII") is a private fund exclusively focused on the international solar infrastructure sector, principally targeting projects in carefully selected OECD countries, including the US, Portugal, Spain, Chile, Poland and Italy.  NPIII is a fund that provides a positive social and environmental impact to the countries it has and will invest into.  NPIII completed its fundraise with a total of $896m, including an SMA raised.  The target of the fund was $750m.
●	NextPower UK ESG ("NPUK") is a private unlevered fund investing in greenfield subsidy-free solar projects, with PPA's, in the UK.  NPUK ESG recently announced its first close at £327 million, which is over 65% of the funds target of £500 million.  The UK Infrastructure Bank is the cornerstone investor for the fund and plans to invest up to £250 million on a match funding basis.

WiseEnergy

WiseEnergy® is NextEnergy Capital Group's operating asset manager. WiseEnergy is a leading specialist operating asset manager in the solar sector.  Since its founding, WiseEnergy has provided solar asset management, monitoring and technical due diligence services to over 1,350 utility-scale solar power plants with an installed capacity in excess of 1.8GW.  WiseEnergy clients comprise leading banks and equity financiers in the energy and infrastructure sector. 

www.wise-energy.com

Starlight

Starlight is NextEnergy Group's development company that is active in the development phase of solar projects.  It has developed over 100 utility-scale projects internationally and continues to progress a large pipeline of c.10GW of both green and brownfield project developments across global geographies.

Notes:

^1: All financial data is unaudited at 30 June 2022, being the latest date in respect of which NESF has published financial information

 

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