Backed by US firm Crestline Investors, Norwegians Ferd and German group ARB Investment Partners, new independent power producer (IPP) NextWind will initially seek to acquire and rejuvenate older wind farms in Germany.
However, its overarching goal is to acquire and transform a portfolio in excess of 1GW of end-of-regulatory-life European assets, according to a press statement released today.
Its projects will encompass both repowering 鈥 a full replacement of the turbines on site (and associated re-permitting)聽 鈥 and lifetime extension, which will involve upgrades to get the most out of existing equipment.
The company is currently negotiating framework agreements with some of Europe鈥檚 largest utilities in order to facilitate the signature of future power purchase agreements (PPAs), it said.
The company told 搖錢樹娛樂城 that the power from the majority of sites will be sold via PPAs, as assets fall out of their previous regulatory tariff arrangements.聽
The spokesperson added that in Germany, the ownership of fairly old sites (so-called teenage sights) is highly fragmented 鈥 鈥渨hich is why the market now needs well-capitalised IPPs to step in, consolidate, modernise and ensure these assets don鈥檛 just drop off the baseline of clean power鈥.
They added: 鈥淲e鈥檙e talking about the early sites here 鈥 the pioneers. The majority of these installations were backed by communities, high-net-worth individuals and smaller ethical investment platforms. This was before the utilities really entered the market.鈥
Ewald Woste, who has served on boards at utility giant E.on and the German energy agency Dena, will be NextWind鈥檚 CEO. He said: 鈥淭he older wind sites tend to have the best locations but the worst efficiencies.聽We鈥檝e assembled the expertise and funding to ensure that these sites are not lost to a diminishing baseline of clean power.聽聽
鈥淚ndeed, with smart investment and management we expect to double the average wind harvest from these pioneering parks. With Germany phasing out coal and nuclear generation, this is important work鈥.
NextWind believes its strategy will help it to become Europe鈥檚 next major green independent power producer.
It expects to complete the acquisition of its first sites in the coming weeks.
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