Business Secretary, Vince Cable said: “The department invested in the
launch of Greencoat UK Wind in March 2013 to help establish a new market for
operational renewable energy assets.

“We wanted to allow developers to recycle their capital into new
renewable construction projects and to help grow this important sector. This
sector is now well-established, with six listed renewables infrastructure
funds worth more than £1.7bn, and so it is an appropriate time to reduce the
department’s shareholding.”

Greencoat listed in 2013 raising £260m to buy six wind farms from energy
companies SSE and RWE.

Tim Ingram, Greencoat chairman said: “From the outset, BIS’s objective was to
support the launch of Greencoat UK Wind, thereby helping to encourage
significant additional private capital into energy infrastructure.”

“BIS’s support has proven to be very successful, with over £1.7bn of private
capital being raised by Greencoat UK Wind and other follow-on funds, helping
to speed up the process of recycling capital into the construction of new
renewable energy assets,” Mr Ingram added.

The listing helped the UK government lure investment for its aging electricity
network as funding dried up from traditional sources such as private equity
and bank lending.

Investors have been attracted to the company’s
dividend yield which outperform government gilts.