APG has bought a 33% stake in a Norwegian hydropower plant operator, its first investment via its infrastructure joint venture with Aquila Capital.
ABP’s asset manager bought the stake in Tinfos from French mining group ERAMET.
Tinfos, majority owned by Monial, will invest in the construction of Norwegian hydropower plants, aiming to more than double the company’s annual production to around 600 GWh by 2020.
The company runs two large-scale and nine small-scale hydropower production facilities.
ABP agreed a €500m hydropower partnership with Hamburg-based Aquila Capital in July.
As reported, APG’s decision to invest in hydropower has come as a surprise to some in the industry, particularly in light of the scheme’s decision not to invest in offshore wind farms in the Netherlands.
Through APG, ABP committed €250m to the venture, with Aquila as operational manager.
Patrick Kanters, managing director of global real estate and infrastructure at APG, said the investment was a “very significant first step”, aligning the strategy with EU energy and emissions 20-20-20 targets.
Kanters has also said hydropower “ticks the right boxes” in terms of risk/return profile and high cash-flow visibility.
Oldrik Verloop, responsible for the partnership at Hamburg-based Aquila, previously told IP Real Estate the bulk of Europe’s hydropower capacity was in Scandinavia, while the Balkans and Turkey also offered potential.
Also in July, APG announced it was providing mezzanine financing for Indian infrastructure development.
Indian conglomerate Piramal Enterprises and APG will jointly invest $1bn (€800m) over the next three years.
Both parties made initial commitments of $375m to the partnership.
