Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec (CDPQ) has teamed up with with a consortium of Mexican institutional investors to buy most of portfolio of eight wind and solar assets owned by Enel Green Power for $1.35bn (€1.14bn).
The Canadian pension fund manager and the consortium of Mexican investors, CKD Infraestructura México (CKD IM), have bought 80% of the portfolio. The assets will, when complete, have a total capacity of 1,712 MW.
The consortium consists of Mexican pension fund managers (Afores) XXI Banorte, Afore SURA, Banamex and Pensionissste, as well as infrastructure fund Fonadin.
Following the transaction, Enel will remain the operator and retain ownership of 20% of the portfolio.
Macky Tall, executive vice-president for infrastructure at CDPQ, said: “This transaction broadens our exposure in renewable energy alongside a leading operator.”
By creating the investment platform with key Mexican partners in 2015, he said the Canadian pension fund manager had aimed to be well positioned to find the best opportunities in Mexico, a priority market for CDPQ.
“This new investment in high-quality assets is perfectly in line with our strategy, and allows us to strengthen our partnership with local pension funds and other major players in Mexico,” Tall said.
Since the platform was set up, the partners have invested in road and telecommunication infrastructure, and are now adding assets in the renewable energy sector to their portfolio.
They said conditions in the wind and solar energy sector in Mexico were good, with the country’s government having set an objective to generate 40% of its electricity from renewable sources by 2035.
The five wind and three solar projects that make up the portfolio are spread across six Mexican states.
Of the total capacity of 1,712 MW, 429 MW is operational and 1,283 MW will be generated by assets under construction.
