Gaelectric claims Kerry gold

Irish developer Gaelectric has completed the acquisition from Enercon of the 46MW Cloghboola wind farm in Kerry.

The €60m deal was first revealed in subscriber-only reNEWS in April 2015.

German bank Nord LB led financing of the deal, using a hybrid project financing structure alongside Hastings-advised institutional investors. 

Cloghboola was completed late last year and features 16 Enercon E-82 E4 turbines rated at 3MW. It pushes the Dublin-based developer’s operational onshore wind portfolio to over 200MW.

Gaelectric’s chief operating officer Barry Gavin said: “We are continuing to progress towards our 2017 goal of 400 MW of wind assets generating power.

“We are pleased to be completing this latest transaction with our long term funding partners, Nord LB, but this time utilizing an innovative financing structure which gives us access to an extended term out to 19.5 years and involves participation for the first time from institutional funds advised by Hastings.”

He added: “The nature and stable returns characteristic of wind investments make them an ideal asset class for institutional and pension investment. We expect to see this source of funding develop further in the future.” 

Nord LB’s managing director Heiko Ludwig said: “This innovative financings follows the work and development Nord LB has started with the team in New York and has now concluded in an adjusted structure suitable for the European market providing additional funding sources to our clients whilst keeping the flexibility of tailored project financing to renewable energy projects.”

Image: Enercon’s E-82 (Kuehni)