A debt-ridden council is likely to recover a significant part of the hundreds of millions of pounds it provided to an insolvent solar farms business.
Sky News has reported that accountancy firm KPMG has been hired to oversee an auction of the assets of Toucan Energy, which received more than £650m of financing from Thurrock BC.
The council faces a £470m in-year funding gap and issued a section 114 notice this week. This means Thurrock will not be able to deliver a balanced budget from within this year and into next year, and must stop all but essential spending on vital services.
Toucan Energy owns 53 solar parks across the UK. Sky News said major energy industry groups are expected to take part in the sale process, with industry sources believing that the council is likely to recover a significant part of the £650m through the disposals.
Interpath Advisory, which was appointed administrator to Toucan Energy, said in November it had been called in by the solar farms business ‘after concluding that its liabilities exceeded its assets’.
Executive director of finance at Essex CC Nicole Wood, who is part of the intervention team brought it to Thurrock BC, told The MJ earlier this month there was ‘more work to be done’ to understand the scale of the deficits at the council.
This article was originally published by The MJ (£).
