Danish pension funds PKA and PenSam are investing DKK1.2bn (€161m) to build a 335MW wind farm in Texas, via a partnership with Finnish energy fund Taaleri Energia, French energy developer Akuo Energy and the investment firm BHE Renewables.
PKA said the Escalade wind farm in Knox Country, Texas would consist of 65 wind turbines, supplied by Danish manufacturer Vestas Wind Systems, and was expected to produce enough electricity to power the equivalent of 275,000 Danish households.
PKA is putting in 77% of the investment with PenSam standing for the remaining 23%, the two Danish labour-market funds said.
Torsten Fels, PenSam chief executive, said: “Although we are feeling the corona crisis in the markets, it is important that we still follow our long-term green investment strategy.”
Investments of this type were not only beneficial to the global climate, but they also help to achieve stable returns on customers’ savings in today’s uncertain market, he said.
The two labour-market pension funds, which together manage savings for a total of 700,000 customers, said the investment was made through their joint-venture alternatives firm AIP Management.
Jon Johnsen, PKA chief executive, said: “We are sticking to the goals we shook hands on with the government last year and continue to invest in green energy both here in Denmark and around the world.”
The pension funds said AIP Management now has DKK5bn of investments in renewable energy in the US, including this latest project in Texas.
Escalade will mark the first use in the US of turbines from Vestas’ Enventus platform introduced last year, which uses new technology.
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