Theolia closes deal for a 30MW wind farm in Sicily

ITALY: Maestrale Green Energy, the Italian subsidiary of French wind developer Theolia, has closed a EUR51 million non-recourse project financing deal with Italian lender Unicredit and Germany's WestLB for a 30MW wind farm currently being constructed in Sicily.

The Giunchetto wind farm, in the province of Enna, is composed of 850kW V-52 machines from Danish turbine manufacturer Vestas and is expected to be commissioned in the first half of 2010.

Theolia considers Italy to be one of its core wind markets. The Giunchetto wind farm will be its first Italian wind farm to become operational. Construction for two other wind farms for which permits have already been received should begin later this year, with commissioning foreseen for 2011.

These projects are the 25MW Pergola wind farm, expected to be the first operational wind farm in the central region of the Marches, and the 50MW Bovino project in the southern region of Apulia.