International energy and infrastructure company BKW has bought a portfolio of six wind farms in France from Mirova and RIVE Private Investment for an undisclosed sum.
Mirova, on behalf of its Mirova Eurofideme 3 and Mirova Eurofideme 4 funds, and RIVE said they have sold the 105.7MW portfolio in northern France.
The acquisition lifts BKW’s 700MW renewable energy facilities portfolio by 15% and expands its presence in one of its core markets.
BKW said it plans to increase its portfolio of new renewable energies to more than one gigawatt by 2026 as it focuses on wind power and solar installations in its core markets of Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Portugal, Norway and Sweden.
Margarita Aleksieva, the head of BKW’s wind and solar business division, said: “With the purchase of six wind farms in the Somme region of northern France, BKW has taken a major step toward achieving its aims through targeted impact investments in the attractive area of wind power.
“The acquisition will enable synergies with current BKW activities in the area of wind energy in France. Following the acquisition, it will own a portfolio of 11 wind farms with around 170MW of installed capacity in France.”
Céline Lauverjat, deputy head of Mirova’s energy transition infrastructure funds, said after the sale of Eurofideme 3’s Croatian wind portfolio in December last year, the sale of this wind portfolio in North of France, acquired on a greenfield basis, is a key milestone for the fund.
Lauverjat said Eurofideme 3, which was launched in 2014 and was totally invested in 2018 in greenfield renewables assets in Western and Northern Europe and is now under its divestment period.
“We are proud to have built and operated more than 100MW renewable capacities that will now continue for years, under the care of BKW, to produce green electricity and participate to the achievement of the French energy transition targets.”
Pierre du Passage, a partner at RIVE Private Investment, said: “We are delighted to have supported the construction of first-grade renewable assets in the Somme region.
“In partnership with Mirova, our involvement has contributed to support achievement of climate change targets and boosted the local economies, consistent with RIVE Private Investment’s sustainability convictions.”
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