ERG acquires Bulgarian wind project

BULGARIA: A recently created joint venture between the renewable units of Italian energy group ERG and Russia’s Lukoil has resulted in an to acquire a 40MW operational wind farm in Bulgaria from Raiffeisen Energy & Environment.

by Heather O’Brian 2 February 2012

LUKERG Renew expects to close the deal, with an enterprise value of approximately €52 million, in the first half of 2012.

The wind farm is located in Bulgaria’s Dobrich region and has operated since 2009.  ERG Renew said the venture was evaluating further acquisition opportunities and greenfield investments in Bulgaria and Romania.

Bulgaria’s cumulative wind capacity rose just 15MW to 504MW in the first six months of 2011.  New investments have stalled as tariff uncertainty has complicated project financing.  Romania’s market is booming, with installed capacity more than doubling to reach 982MW last year.

ERG Renew also has installed wind capacity of about 500MW in Italy and 64MW in France.