Goldfield Partners will look to raise £10m for the launch of a fund that will specifically target the UK solar market.
The Goldfield Solar EIS Fund will take advantage of the renewable energy feed-in tariffs (FITs) for installations under 5MW that came into force in the UK in April 2010.
It said it hopes to raise the £10m before the end of the tax year in April 2011 and target returns of eight per cent per annum.
Leigh Goodman, director of Goldfield Partners, told NewNet the fund differentiates itself due to the fact it has already sourced its underlying assets.
‘We have already got an agreement signed, the assets have been identified,’ Goodman said. ‘They are also fully insured and that is a major difference with our fund.’
The FIT has been designed to encourage the growth of small-scale electricity production from clean energy sources and obligates power companies to pay a premium for energy generated from eligible sites.
They are guaranteed for 25 years, however, there is a fear that the government may reduce their rate.
‘If they are going to cut it, I think they will do so for solar parks not the residential sector.’
He adds, ‘The FIT was always about generation of electricity at point of use and that is exactly what we are targeting.’
The tax-efficient Enterprise Investment Scheme (EIS) will buy many hundreds of domestic pre-installed systems from the solar panel installers and as these underlying assets are already operational investors’ funds should be allocated rapidly.
David Gammond, also a director of Goldfield Partners, said, ‘This is a very powerful offer. We think it has everything that investors are looking for in the current economic climate. It is tax efficient, it has a good return, and because the assets are already installed and operational there is minimal risk. We have a target return of eight percent per annum which includes the EIS tax incentives.
‘Even before it was officially launched we had interest from investors and we fully expect the fund to reach the target subscription of £10m before the tax year end in April 2011.’
Goodman added, ‘It offers a decent return, underpinned by government legislation.’