Brookfield Asset Management has acquired Atrato Onsite Energy’s commercial and residential rooftop solar portfolio.
The £220m deal will see Atrato’s renewable energy management team transition into a newly created company, continuing its mandate to develop and invest in clean energy infrastructure for UK businesses. Under Brookfield’s leadership, the company plans to invest around £1 billion in rooftop solar by 2030.
Atrato’s current pipeline is estimated at around £400 million, including contracts with major customers Tesco, Britvic, M&S and Nissan. The company’s 55MW solar development in Yorkshire, the Skeeby project, came online on October 24, following Atrato’s £39.4 million investment in the development.
Atrato has signed a three-year power purchase agreement (PPA) with British utility OVO Energy, which will receive 49 GWh of electricity annually from the site.
Brookfield said the acquisition agreement, executed between Brookfield and Real Asset Investment Management and supported by Access Capital Partners and AltamarCam Partners, demonstrates the potential of UK commercial and industrial (C&I) solar.
Juliet Davenport, Chairman of Atrato Onsite Energy, commented: “Brookfield’s support will build on the progress made as a publicly traded company, allowing the new private company to accelerate investment in the market and deliver clean and economical energy to businesses throughout the country. ”
Managing partner of Brookfield’s renewable energy and transition group Ignacio Paz-Ares noted that the deal marks the group’s first investment in rooftop solar in Britain. The Canadian investment manager signed a deal in late October to acquire a 12.5% minority stake in four UK offshore wind farms from Danish energy company and developer Ørsted – its first foray into UK offshore wind farms.
In November 2023, British utility Octopus Energy’s generation arm acquired a 12.5% stake in Walney Extension offshore wind developmentwhich has been operational since 2018. Brookfield has a 20% stake in the utility, acquired as part of its acquisition of Australian Origin Energy.
Brookfield has had a stake in Scotland’s onshore wind energy, having acquired OnPath Energy (then known as Banks Renewables) in 2023 in a deal worth around $1 billion (£820 million).
At the time the deal was announced, Banks had secured planning for fourteen wind farms across Scotland, seven of which were already operational.
