UK renewables investor Foresight Group has made its first wind acquisition in Germany, for 50MW of assets from WPD.
The company completed the deal, for the 45MW Krackow and the 5MW Seubersdorf wind farms, in partnership with Korea Investment & Securities (KIS).
Krackow is located in Mecklenburg, Western Pomerania in the north-east of the country and Seubersdorf is located in Bavaria in southern Germany.
Foresight, which opened its Seoul office in early 2018, has been working with Korean investors for almost two years, having made its first renewable energy acquisition on behalf of KDB KIAMCO and Hanwha Energy in Australian Solar in February 2017.
KIS head of energy and infrastructure Jason Sim said: “We are delighted to have collaborated once again with Foresight on the acquisition of the wpd wind farms.
“This is our first German wind transaction and it has been a pleasure to work alongside the experienced team at Foresight and together we expect to explore further renewable opportunities in Europe and globally as we grow our portfolio of overseas infrastructure assets.”
The 50MW deal increases Foresight’s wind portfolio, following acquisitions in 2018 of the 83MW portfolio from Belltown Power, the 14MW North Pickenham site in Norfolk, and a 12MW portfolio in Northern Ireland.
In June 2018 Foresight invested in a portfolio of anaerobic digestion plants in German, sold by Lindhorst Gruppe.
WPD, through a subsidiary, managed the original development, financing and construction of the Krackow and Seubersdorf wind farms.
Krackow has been operational since the fourth quarter of 2015 and comprises 15 Vestas V112 wind turbine generators with Vestas also providing long-term operations and maintenance (O&M) services.
Seubersdorf came online in the fourth quarter of 2014 and consists of two GE 2.5-120 turbines with GE as the long-term O&M provider.
Both projects benefit from ongoing operational management services provided by WPD Windmanager, a wholly-owned subsidiary of WPD, and receive 20-year, fixed revenues under the German Renewable Energy Act (EEG).
Foresight Group partner Carly Magee said: “We are delighted to have completed the acquisition of this sizeable German wind portfolio and to have established a relationship with WPD, one of the leading wind developers in the world and an excellent counterparty to work with.”
With the acquisition Foresight has 165MW of wind assets under management, in addition to 1.1GW of solar and 115MW from UK and European bioenergy plants, as well as 45MW of utility-scale battery storage and 160MW of reserve power assets.
Foresight chairman Bernard Fairman, Chairman of Foresight added: “This significant acquisition further strengthens Foresight’s diversified energy infrastructure portfolio of renewable generation technologies and supporting infrastructure.
“We are pleased to have entered the German wind market, to continue to partner successfully with Korean investors and to have consolidated Foresight’s market-leading renewables investment presence in Europe.”
Foresight was advised by Osborne Clarke (legal), K2 Management (technical) and PWC (financial and tax).