Omnes Capital and Ilmatar Windpower have launched a joint venture for Nordic wind power and have completed the largest acquisition of a fully developed wind project in Finland to date.
The joint wind platform Ilmatar Energy targets further acquisitions of Finnish and other Nordic development stage and construction ready assets. In the next five years Ilmatar Energy aims to construct and operate up to 1,000 megawatts of wind power. Ilmatar Energy has already acquired its first project from Metsähallitus, a state-owned enterprise responsible for the management of one-third of Finland’s surface area. The project encompasses 50 turbines with a combined nominal capacity of more than 200 megawatts. The project is aimed to be built without any subsidies but is also positioned to participate in the upcoming renewable energy premium scheme.
Ilmatar Energy is held 70 percent by FPCI Capenergie 3, a €245 million ($284 million) fund dedicated to renewable energy and managed by Omnes Capital, and 30 percent by Ilmatar Windpower. The company is managed by Ilmatar Windpower.
Ilmatar Windpower’s first own development was the first Finnish wind project ever to obtain nonrecourse project financing.
“We have seen increasing levels of interest from several large consumers of electricity to drive their profitability as well as environmental responsibility through the use of long-term power purchase agreements (PPAs),” said Ilmatar Energy’s CEO Erkka Saario. “We are able to offer electricity at a magnitude and price level never before seen on the Finnish wind power market.”
Omnes Capital investment director Michael Pollan added, “The recent phase-out of subsidized feed-in tariffs has provided a new investment opportunity that requires selecting the very best projects such as those developed by Metsähallitus.”
The acquired project, Piiparinmäki-Murtomäki, encompasses 50 turbine locations of which 41 are construction ready. The company expects start of construction to take place during 2019. The project is expected to provide over 600 GWh of clean energy per year starting from 2021. The project is developed by Metsähallitus, one of the most prominent developers in Finland with a track-record of divesting over 500 megwatts of fully developed projects.
