Aquila listed renewables fund adds second Danish wind farm to portfolio

The newly listed Aquila European Renewables Income Fund (AERIF) has added a 22.4MW onshore Danish wind farm to its portfolio.

AERIF has bought 100% of the shares in Svindbaek Vindkraft HoldCo for €25.3m, making it investment company’s second acquisition in Denmark and fifth across Europe since it joined the London Stock Exchange in June.

AERIF said Svindbaek HoldCo will, in turn, hold all limited partnership interests in K/S Svindbaek Vindkraft, the operating company of Svindbaek.

Svindbaek benefits from a Danish premium tariff for a fixed volume of production which is expected to last for another 9 years. 

AERIF said the capital committed in the acquisition amounts to 16.4% of the proceeds raised in the company’s initial public offering (IPO).

Ian Nolan, Aquila European Renewables Income Fund chairman, said: “The board is again very pleased that the company has been able to continue deploying the capital raised through its successful IPO and to make this acquisition still in the calendar year 2019.

“Svindbaek is an operating wind farm that will immediately contribute to investor dividends.”

Christine Brockwell, head of partnerships and portfolio management at Aquila Capital, the investment adviser, said: “Completing these acquisitions means that 71.9% of the proceeds raised from the IPO are now invested.

“With the acquisition of this asset, it is expected that the company will improve its ability to immediately generate a strong dividend yield due to the fact that the winter season is highly productive for wind farms.”