British financial services group Legal and General has committed to funding up to 47.5 per cent of a €250 million investment fund launched by NTR plc to invest in onshore wind projects in Ireland and the UK.

NTR, which recently completed the demerger of its wind energy business, will also be a significant investor in the fund with a €50 million commitment.

A number of other investors are also expected to join the initiative early next year, NTR said.

At 270MW in capacity, the total capital required for the scheme amounts to €670 million and the wind projects in the fund are expected to generate sufficient electricity to power up to 170,000 homes and avoid more than 300,000 tonnes of CO2 emissions per annum across Ireland and the UK.

NTR said it has already acquired the first four assets for the fund, which total €62 million in equity and will provide a combined capacity of 55MW. These include large multiple turbine wind assets across the island of Ireland and Scotlan that are ready for construction with land, planning consent and grid connection agreements all in place. NTR said the fund has an active pipeline of further investments across the UK and Irish markets.

In addition to its direct investment in the fund, Legal and General has partnered with the Irish utility group in order to explore further prospects in the clean energy sector, through an investment in the company’s clean energy investment and asset management business, NTR Wind Management Limited.

“This is a very exciting partnership for NTR, where we will be aligning the patient capital of Legal and General with our own track record in acquiring, constructing and operating wind projects,” said NTR chief executive Rosheen McGurkian.

“We have a rapidly growing pipeline of construction ready onshore wind assets and we are delighted that Legal and General have both committed to this, our first wind fund to include other investors, and to working with us on additional clean energy investment opportunities,” she added.