Earlier this month, global investment firm KKR, in partnership with Temporis Capital LLP, announced that it would be providing an 8 million pound loan to the Sròndoire Community Wind Farm in Argyll and Bute, Scotland. According to Recharge, “US investment firm KKR and London-based Temporis Capital say a planned three-turbine wind farm in Scotland will be the first project to benefit from a new £200m ($313m) lending facility created this month with the UK Green Investment Bank (GIB),” of the news.
KKR, headed by founding partners and cousins Henry R. Kravis and George R. Roberts, is a prominent investment firm that has consistently been a leader in sustainability and green practices. The company’s Green Portfolio Program is an impressive example of its commitment to environmentally friendly practices, so it hardly comes as a surprise that KKR would be interested in investing in renewable energy abroad.
A November 18 press release about the sizeable loan states that “KKR’s support of the lending platform combines the firm’s investment experience in renewable energy with the firm’s non-bank lending platforms [like Temporis Capital],” of KKR’s expertise in this kind of transaction. The press release also included a statement from David Watson, Chief Executive of Temporis Capital, in which he states his confidence in the lending program. “Earlier in November, we announced the launch of a new lending platform dedicated to infrastructure projects in the renewable energy sector. Today, I am excited to announce the first of our investments,” he said. “I am confident that many more are to come.”
We’ve written about the appeal of alternative energy here at Environmental Watch before; wind energy in particular is ideal because of its environmental benefits as well as its economic reach. Many investment firms like KKR have recognized the increased value in harnessing wind energy and are confident that both its monetary and environmental value will only increase in the coming years.
Construction of the Sròndoire Community Wind Farm started in 2011, and is a joint venture between the Lithgow family of Ormsary and the Broadfoot family of Stronachullin, who have been living and farming the land for more than a century, reports Recharge. Learn more about the wind farm by visiting the Allt Dearg and Sròndoire Community Wind Farm website.