PensionDanmark, Lægernes Pension, KLP and other mostly Nordic investors are behind a Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners (CIP) fund to invest DKK409m (€54.9m) via mezzanine financing in a US wind farm scheme.
CIP said that through its fund Copenhagen Infrastructure II, it had provided a $61m (€57.4m) mezzanine loan for the construction of the onshore wind farm Fluvanna I in Scurry County, Texas.
There are 19 Danish and international institutional investors behind the CIP II fund — PensionDanmark, Lægernes Pension & Bank, PBU, JØP, DIP, Nordea, PFA, Nykredit, AP Pension, SEB Pension DK, SEB Pension SE, Lærernes Pension, Oslo Pensjonsforsikring, Villum Fonden, KLP, Townsend on behalf of a UK pension fund, Widex, LB Forsikring, and EIB, the infrastructure manager said.
Torben Möger Pedersen, chief executive of PensionDanmark, said: “The investment in the Fluvanna I project is PensionDanmark’s fourth investment in American wind farms.
“The investment will provide our members with attractive and stable returns in the next many years,” he said, adding that at the same time, the pension fund would be contributing to the climate agenda.
The wind farm is owned and will be operated by Terna Energy, and the total investment in Fluvanna I will be $251m, CIP said.
The wind farm will consist of 74 2.1-MW Gamesa turbines, to produce output of 155.4 MW, and is expected to start operating commercially in the fourth quarter of 2017.
It will be built by and its turbines erected by US contractor Wanzek and the firm Gamesa will provide operational and maintenance services for the turbines, while Terna will be responsible for operating, maintaining and managing the wind farm.
PensionDanmark said CIP and Terna Energy intended to jointly develop more wind farms in Texas, starting with the Fluvanna II wind project next to Fluvanna I, with this second wind farm expected to generate 130 MW.
