Intervention: Selsey
Fund: SASC Bridge Finance
Date of Investment: March 2020
Impact Area: Conservation of the Natural Environment
Beneficiary Group: People living in poverty and/or financial exclusion
Ferry Farm Community Solar is a Community Interest Company serving Selsey and Sidlesham in West Sussex. It was set up to manage the process of bringing the 5MW solar array into full community ownership. The society is governed by a board of volunteer directors and owned by its members (currently around 100), who invested in a community share offer when the society was first set up.
Investment made prior to the purchase of Leapfrog Bridge Finance by SASC.
£5.85m loan to acquire a 5MW solar farm being sold by an existing EIS investment scheme
Affordable energy and support for community projects in a deprived area
Individuals and families faced with fuel poverty and hardship
The site generates clean energy for c. 1,300 homes and is expected to generate c. £2m in support of local community projects over its lifetime
Without the loan, the seller was unlikely to agree the purchase by the community. The ownership and governance structure maximises surpluses for distribution as local grants
Very little construction or revenue risk because source already in place, with full Feed in Tariff (FIT) accreditation
Behind the scenes a huge amount of work goes into a transaction like this from the borrower, funder and the advisory team. It has taken us 6 months to get through the finance process and several months of negotiations prior to that. To complete the transaction in the midst of the lock down is a credit to all parties and shows how important it was to everyone to get it done and enable the enterprise to mobilise the Corona Crisis Fund.
Tom Cosgrove, of Communities for Renewables CIC, who managed the transaction for Ferry Farm Community Solar
