Augusta acted on behalf of Ilmatar Energy, a joint venture between Finnish developer Ilmatar Windpower and Capenergie 3, a fund managed by Omnes, the Paris-based infrastructure fund. The ground-breaking project, set to become Finland’s largest wind farm, and one of the largest unsubsidised wind farms in Europe, has been acquired by Glennmont Partners, one of Europe’s largest clean-energy fund managers. It represents Glennmont’s first investment in the Nordic market.
Finland has the second highest share of renewable energy in Europe, having benefitted from good levels of state support, including an ongoing feed-in tariff scheme. However, the market is increasingly exploring its post-subsidy options, and the Piiparinmäki project presents an innovative model for merchant wind energy, both in Finland and in Europe more widely.
The project has secured a 10-year Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) with Google, following the largest ever corporate purchase of renewable energy in September, in which the firm committed to 1.6 GW of new agreements worldwide. Augusta advised Ilmatar Energy throughout its successful participation in Google’s tender process for long-term PPAs in which a large number of projects are believed to have bid, and 18 projects were awarded with agreements.
Piiparinmaki, which is due to enter construction in October 2019, will be powered by 28 Vestas EnVentus V150-5.6MW and 13 V150-4.2MW wind turbines. Ilmatar will deliver the wind farm turnkey and continue to manage the technical and commercial operations of the wind farm once online.
“This landmark transaction is a successful vindication of Ilmatar Energy’s strategic decision to pursue a route to market for Piiparinmäki free of subsidy, and to focus instead on the innovative deployment of the new Vestas EnVentus platform backed by a Google PPA” said Kalle Pykälä, Chairman of Ilmatar Windpower. “Augusta has played a vital role in helping to deliver this vision across the equity, PPA and project finance processes”.
Simon Clement-Davies, Managing Director of Augusta, added that the sale of Piiparinmäki is a ground-breaking transaction, and that Augusta looks forward to building on this successful relationship with further deals.
This latest project sale is one of a succession of post-subsidy wind energy deals overseen by Augusta in the Nordics this year, following a trio of asset sales closed in Norway and Sweden in Q1 2019 on behalf of developers Norsk Vind Energi, OX2 and Arise / Platina. Augusta’s track record in Finland includes the sale of a 110MW onshore wind portfolio to Allianz Capital Partners on behalf of Impax Asset Management in 2016.
Augusta will be attending the RE-Source conference in Amsterdam this week, October 2-3.
For additional information:
