London-based Octopus Renewables Infrastructure Trust (ORIT) has asked shareholders to vote on a proposal that would make offshore wind a key part of its investment focus
Launched in December 2019 as a closed-ended investment company, ORIT has a diversified portfolio of renewable energy assets in Europe and Australia.
To date, its primary focus has been solar assets and onshore wind, with one offshore wind asset. However, ORIT has recently undertaken a review of its investment policy and after consultation shareholders, is recommending that its policy be amended to make offshore wind a much larger proportion of its holdings, alongside onshore wind and solar PV.
Under its current investment policy, onshore wind and solar accounts for 44% and 47% its investments, respectively. The company has to date invested around £36.5M to acquire a 7.75% indirect interest in the Lincs offshore windfarm in the UK North Sea.
ORIT said it views offshore wind as a well-established technology and notes that it is a key pillar of government targets for new capacity additions across Europe, including the UK, as well as further afield, including Australia.
ORIT said it believes that inclusion of offshore wind in the company’s core technology allocation will allow investors the opportunity to access a broader, more diversified range of investments, and has proposed to amend its investment policy to expand its core 60% investment to include offshore windfarms as well as onshore wind, to enable it to make additional offshore wind investments. The proposal will be voted on at a general meeting of the company on 28 July 2022.
In April 2022, Octopus Renewables Infrastructure Trust plc invested €7.5M (circa £6.4M) in Simply Blue Holdings Limited, the parent company of Simply Blue Group, the developer of floating offshore wind projects.
Octopus Renewables Infrastructure Trust’s investment – which is a co-investment alongside another fund managed by Octopus Renewables Limited – entitles it to a 12% interest in Simply Blue Group.
