NextEnergy Solar Fund has seen a decline in net asset value and an increase in portfolio generation compared to budget in the second and third quarters of 2025.
The dedicated solar and energy storage asset management fund said its project portfolio outperformed its expectations by 7.6% between April 1 and September 30, generating around £2.5m of additional cash, despite the impact of weather variability and distributed network operator (DNO) outages.
The fund has 101 assets: 90 in Great Britain, eight in Italy and one each in Spain and Portugal, with a total installed capacity of 939 MW. These assets generated 627 GWh of power between April and September, up from 595 GWh in the corresponding period of 2024.
NextEnergy also saw a decline in net asset value (NAV) and gross asset value during the period. The net asset value per ordinary share was £0.888, up from £0.951 at the end of March, and ordinary shareholders saw a total net asset value of £510.9m, up from £547.4m. NextEnergy’s gross asset value at the end of September was £1,029 million, compared to £1,061 million at March 31.
“The renewable energy investment industry has faced significant pressure, with macroeconomic uncertainty, persistently high interest rates, asset manager consolidations and redemptions, rising long-term government bond yields, political instability and falling energy prices contributing to significant discounting among listed funds,” said Ross Grier, Chief Investment Officer of NextEnergy Capital.
“NESF has not been immune to these pressures, but remains strategically positioned to benefit from the accelerating transition to a low-carbon energy environment, with momentum steadily increasing since the announcement of the UK Government’s Clean Power 2030 Action Plan.
In its statement, the company attributes most of the declining NAV to “a reduction in energy price forecasts from external advisors.”
Paul Le Page, interim chairman of the NextEnergy Solar Fund, said: “The Board continues to monitor the company’s common share price and is confident that the current discount to net assets is completely unwarranted given our operating performance, success in asset sales above NAV, our well-structured balance sheet and a cash-backed dividend.”
NextEnergy said it has launched a formal strategic review to “explore all options to close the current discount to the company’s intrinsic value.”
The company is continuing its Capital Recycling Program, with the remaining phase involving the sale of two 100 MW solar power plants. The program has been executed since 2023when the company said it planned to divest a 236 MW solar portfolio and pull capital from those projects. To date, the program has raised £72.5 million, NextEnergy said.
In March, NextEnergy Capital, which manages the NextEnergy Solar Fund, closed its NextPower UK ESG fund for new build UK solar with £733 million raisedalmost 50% above the original target.
