Taaleri Energia and Abu Dhabi’s renewable energy company Masdar have expanded their alliance with a renewables development venture in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE).
The Finnish wind and solar developer and fund manager, and the subsidiary of Mubadala Investment Company intend to develop onshore wind and solar photovoltaic (PV) projects.
The companies said they have decided to jointly pursue the development of renewable energy projects in the CEE region, due in part to the “forecasted growth” of renewable energy in the region and the “substantial volume of opportunities”.
“At the same time, multilateral institutions have recently urged the West Balkan countries to consider replacing a significant portion of their 9 gigawatts of ageing coal-fired generation capacity with renewables, while Greece has announced plans to add up to 2.3 gigawatts of new solar and wind capacity by the end of 2020,” the companies said.
Previously, the Taaleri Energia SolarWind I fund invested alongside Masdar in Čibuk 1, the 158MW wind farm in Serbia, and in the Baynouna Solar Energy Company, which is constructing a 248MWp solar PV plant in Jordan.
Bader Al Lamki, an executive director of clean energy at Masdar, said: “What we’ve accomplished in partnership with Taaleri in Serbia and Jordan is a testament to the important role that strong partnerships play in unlocking access to renewable energy.
“We are proud to build on the experiences gained through our strong collaboration, to help countries in Central and Eastern Europe meet their renewable energy goals.”
Kai Rintala, the managing director of Taaleri Energia, said: “Working together with Masdar in this joint venture we will generate high quality deal flow in Central and Eastern Europe which will provide the funds that we manage opportunities to invest in the region in attractive projects with high calibre investment, financing, equipment and construction partners and counterparties.”
An earlier version of this story incorrectly referred to Mubadala Investment Company as a subsidiary of the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority. Mubadala Investment Company is an investment vehicle of the government of Abu Dhabi.
