Bluefield Solar’s value drops as it homes in on buyer
The value of Bluefield Solar Income’s (BSIF) portfolio dropped 7.5% in the second half of last year in what was a challenging period for the renewables sector characterised by low wind speeds and expensive debt.
This decline in the trust’s net asset value (NAV) from £690m in June to £638m by the end of the year does not take into account changes to government subsidies, which will likely reduce its valuation by a further 2% after the period closed.
The decision to switch the indexation of renewable obligation (RO) and feed-in tariffs (FIT) from RPI to CPI brought another headwind against the sector as it weighed down on the long-term profitability of green energy trusts.
Chair Michael Gibbons said it was ‘a source of great regret that the company has effectively been prevented from raising more capital’, but said there is still ‘so much unfinished business to be done’.
The board narrowed down its list of potential buyers over the period having put the trust up for sale in November after a failed proposal to internalise management. Gibbons was positive on progress made with these potential bidders but cautioned that there was ‘no certainty that an offer will be made’.
Even so, renewable assets have been infamously challenging to sell in the current environment. Aquila European Renewables (AERI) has struggled to find a buyer since going into wind down in 2024, with GCP Infrastructure (GCP) running behind schedule in its drive to sell green energy assets.
The negative sentiment around renewables hit BSIF’s share price, which fell 25% over the six-month period. This nearly doubled its discount from 15.4% in June to 39.9% by the end of the year, which has since recovered to 31.8% as of yesterday.
Though this is steep, BFIF is still trading narrower than the 33.7% average across the Renewable Energy Infrastructure sector.
Some in the sector, such as Aquila European Renewables, US Solar (USF) and Hydrogen Capital Growth (HGEN), are trading at less than half their NAV.
| VH Global Energy Infrastructure | -26.6 | 39.5 | 7.7 |
| Greencoat UK Wind | -27.9 | -6.2 | 10.8 |
| Foresight Environmental Infrastructure | -30.2 | 14.9 | 10.8 |
| Greencoat Renewables | -31 | -5.3 | 10 |
| Bluefield Solar Income Fund | -31.8 | -1.2 | 11.5 |
| Renewables Infrastructure Group | -34 | 0 | 11.1 |
| Gresham House Energy Storage | -36.6 | 52.8 | 0 |
| Foresight Solar Fund | -36.6 | -7.7 | 12.6 |
| NextEnergy Solar Fund | -38.5 | -11.8 | 16.3 |
| Octopus Renewables Infrastructure Trust | -42.3 | -9.6 | 11.5 |
| Gore Street Energy Storage | -44.4 | 10.9 | 13.9 |
| SDCL Efficiency Income | -45.1 | 12.1 | 13 |
| Aquila Energy Efficiency Trust | -46.5 | 11.4 | 0 |
| Ecofin US Renewables Infrastructure | -48.3 | -27.3 | 0 |
| Aquila European Renewables | -50.6 | -44.6 | 21.4 |
| US Solar Fund | -50.7 | -12 | 11.1 |
| Hydrogen Capital Growth | -55.5 | -36.6 | 0 |
| Sector average | -33.7 | -0.1 | 11.4 |
Source: Association of Investment Companies
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