Infracapital, the infrastructure equity investment arm of M&GPrudential, has agreed to acquire two pre-construction Finnish onshore wind farm projects from OX2, a large-scale wind farm in Europe, for an undisclosed amount.
The two onshore wind projects, Kröpuln and Storbacken, consist of 14 turbines with an estimated total production output of around 206 GWh per year, enough to power approximately 120,000 homes.
The deal marks the firm’s first greenfield investment in Finland and the first onshore wind project for Infracapital Greenfield Partners Fund I (IGP I), according to Michele Armanini, managing director at Infracapital. It is also Infracapital’s second investment in Finland, and the first project for Infracapital Greenfield Partners Fund I in the Nordics.
IGP I’s strategy is to build, deliver and operate essential greenfield infrastructure to meet the changing needs of society and support long-term economic growth across Europe, according to the firm.
The deal marks a major step in addressing the investment requirement for sustainable energy in Finland, part of the efficient Nordic energy market, said the firm. In Finland, renewable energy sources represent approximately 40 percent of energy end-consumption.
The Finnish Government’s National Energy and Climate Strategy to 2030 aims to increase the use of renewables to more than 50 percent of energy end-consumption during the 2020s.
OX2 will continue to act as the project’s asset manager throughout construction and operations under an engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contract. The company has developed more than 1,800 megawatts of wind power and is currently building 15 wind farms with a total of approximately 973 megawatts in the Nordic region, approximately 190 megawatts of which are in Finland.
Construction will commence in the fall, with commercial operations anticipated to begin in the fourth quarter of 2021.
