Laing

John Laing has today signed contracts for the acquisition of two operational solar parks: Five Oaks based in Billingshurst, West Sussex and Fryingdown based near Basingstoke, Hampshire.

John Laing is 100% investor in the projects and the acquisition represents the company’s entry into the solar power sector.

Having been fully operational since December 2011, the combined peak energy capacity of the parks is 9.8MW, exporting to the grid the equivalent of around 3,000 home’s annual electricity consumption. Both parks will benefit from long term Feed-in-Tariff (FiT) payments, which are fixed for 25 years and have furthermore secured contracts for the exported renewable energy to one of the UK’s big six energy suppliers.

Andy Harmer, Head of Environmental Infrastructure for John Laing, said: “This has been an extremely exciting project, not only because of the unique nature of the deal but also because this is a significant milestone in the development of the John Laing business in the renewable energy sector.” 

The Engineering, Procurement and Construction (EPC) contractor and operator for the parks is Wirsol Operations Ltd, who is supported by Stepnell Ltd. The financial and legal advisors for the project are WHEB Infrastructure and DLA Piper respectively.