JLEN delivered a resilient net asset value performance for the six months to 30th September 2023, notwithstanding the challenging macroeconomic environment. We continue to benefit from our portfolio diversification strategy, which helps us maintain a suitable overall risk profile for the fund. The NAV at 30th September 2023 was GBP 792.1 million, and our NAV per share was 119.7 pence, delivering an 8.8% annualized NAV total return since our IPO. Looking to the year ahead, JLEN remains in a strong position to deliver on its operational and financial objectives.
Cash generation was healthy during the period, following a second consecutive period of record distributions received from investments. This underpins a dividend cover of 1.32 times after payment to the Electricity Generator Levy, a new tax on electricity generation. The equivalent dividend cover prior to payment of the levy was 1.54 times in line with last year's figure. This means we can declare a second interim dividend of 1.89 pence per share, making total dividends declared for the half year of 3.78 pence, in line with the full year target of 7.57 pence per share for the year to 31 March 2024. Cash generated from the portfolio reinforces our view that the dividend will be strongly covered for the full year, and our degree of contracted revenues limits exposure to volatility in power markets.
JLEN has communicated a clear, disciplined strategy for the allocation of capital that prioritizes the continued long-term success of the company in the changed economic environment, brought about by the increase in rates from near zero in 2021 to 5.25 now, 2 years later. This increase in rates has led to the shares currently trading at a discount to the net asset value of the fund, and this discount presents both challenges and opportunities that our capital allocation policy seeks to address. At the present time, the portfolio is performing well and producing good levels of cash.
Available cash beyond the company's running costs and expected dividends will be used to meet existing capital commitments and a short list of earmarked follow-on investments and targeted enhancements, all with the aim of maintaining and increasing the value of the current portfolio and also managing use of the company's revolving credit facility prudently. The capital allocation strategy also anticipates asset disposals to recycle capital for deployment in other ways to benefit shareholders. Share buybacks are being actively considered, as we strongly believe that the company's shares present an attractive investment opportunity at the current discount to NAV.
JLEN invested in a second green hydrogen opportunity in Germany through our development partner, HH2E, a specialist in developing green hydrogen projects to decarbonize industry, meaning we now have 42 assets across 10 principal sectors. We've made good progress on JLEN's construction and development stage investments. Notable developments in the period include the substantial completion of construction work at our glasshouse, including the introduction of plants on site, which is a major milestone for the facility. Work at our Rjukan aquaculture project in Norway also continues to progress well and is on track to receive its first trout eggs early in the new year. And lastly, our first grid-scale battery at West Gourdie became operational midway through the period and is now fully integrated into the portfolio.
As JLEN approaches its tenth anniversary, we're encouraged by the prospects for the portfolio and are proud of its track record of delivering consistent dividend and NAV growth over its life. The outlook for sustainable infrastructure investment remains positive as the U.K. and European economies decarbonize to meet net zero emissions targets and also find ways to live more sustainably. We're focusing our efforts on laying the foundations for future NAV growth through the company's construction stage assets, which currently take up about 9% of the portfolio. These assets provide potential for capital growth as they pass through the construction stage and become operational. We are particularly optimistic about the outlook for green hydrogen and its potential to decarbonize many carbon-intensive sectors of the economy, with some analysts predicting that the sector will grow 500 times by 2050 to meet net zero targets.
We see progress in key European markets for government support and corporate offtake of green hydrogen that supports our view that hydrogen infrastructure will become a core part of the energy transition in the 21st century. We will be suitably cautious in our approach, given the prevailing uncertainties. But considering that environmental infrastructure is a long-term asset class, we view the future with confidence.