Legal & General has made a £57.5m (€63.4m) investment in a UK solar portfolio in the form of a long-term debt financing.

The UK insurer said it has provided the debt to support Hermes Infrastructure in their recapitalisation of two solar photovoltaic (PV) portfolios in England and Wales.

The investment has been made by LGIM Real Assets on behalf of its clients including Legal & General Retirement Institutional.

Nigel Wilson, CEO of Legal & General, said: “Across the Legal & General group, we have taken many actions in support of the environment: by controlling what we do directly, investing in renewables and new science to support de-carbonisation, and by using our investment scale and strength to encourage others to follow suit.”

Tom Sumpster, head of infrastructure finance, LGIM Real Assets, said: “Renewable energy now accounts for a third of global power capacity, with wind and solar totalling 84% of new renewable generation capacity in 2018.

“With the cost of power from wind and solar continuing to fall, consumer demand for clean power is increasing. Further investment in sustainable energy benefits society and provides secure investments to match our pension liabilities and payments.”