Irish renewable energy developer Solar 21 has said it will “vigorously” defend itself against a petition that a group of investors presented to the High Court earlier this week to wind up two of its subsidiaries.
The two entities – EFW 21 Renewable Energy (Project 2) Ireland Ltd and EFW 21 Renewable Energy (Project 2) Ltd – raised money from Irish investors through unregulated loan notes to fund the construction of an energy-to-waste plant in the UK.
The companies later selected lands at Seal Sands on the River Tees in Yorkshire as the site for what became known as the Teeside Project or Project 2.
Earlier this week, three Irish investors in the project submitted a petition to the High Court to have the two development companies wound up.
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On foot of an external report by a third-party accountant, it is understood that the investors believe the companies are insolvent.
With the loan notes set to mature in 2027, the investors are also understood to be concerned that construction on the project has allegedly not yet commenced.
Asked for an update on the status of Teeside Project, a spokesperson for Solar 21 said: “These companies are not insolvent, and we will be vigorously defending the petition.”
The petitions are due to be heard in court next month.
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EFW 21 Renewable Energy (Project 2) Ltd, where Solar 21 co-founder Michael Bradley is listed as a director, has not filed annual returns or accounts with the Companies Registration Office (CRO) since 2020.
EFW 21 Renewable Energy (Project 2) Ireland Ltd, meanwhile, has filed four years of CRO returns since late October.
At the end of 2024, the company had accumulated losses in excess of €10.4 million and a shareholder’s deficit in the same amount, according to its most recent set of accounts.
The entity owed creditors more than €24.3 million. The sum is primarily attributable to called-up share capital treated as a liability in the accounts because it is owed to the shareholders.
According to its 2024 annual return, 100 per cent of the company’s ordinary shares were held by Solar 21 Renewable Energy (Efw P2) Ltd. Registered at an address in Tallaght, Dublin 24, the parent entity is controlled by Mr Bradley.
More than 70 individuals and entities are listed as holding cumulative redeemable preference shares in the company.
Solar 21 has moved to restructure part of the group, the so-called Project 1 companies, in recent years after Covid and Brexit-related delays to the development of its first project at Melton, Yorkshire.
However, the two companies subject to the winding-up petition were not included in the 2023 scheme of arrangement approved by the High Court to repay investors in the Project 1 companies.
In September, the Business Post reported that Ken Fennell, managing director at Interpath Advisory and a leading insolvency expert, had resigned from his role in the restructuring of the Project 1 Solar 21 companies without providing a reason for his departure.
