Glennmont purchases 211MW unsubsidised Finnish wind project from Ilmatar Energy
Glennmont Partners, one of Europe’s largest clean energy fund managers, has acquired Project Piiparinmäki, a 211.4MW wind farm, from Ilmatar Energy, a joint venture between Omnes-managed Capenergie 3 and Ilmatar Windpower plc. The transaction represents Glennmont’s first ever investment in the Nordic market.
The onshore wind farm, located in central Finland, is ready to build with construction commencing in October 2019. Once operational, Piiparinmäki will be the largest wind farm in Finland, a significant wind power asset in the Nord Pool area, and one of the largest unsubsidised wind farms in Europe.
Piiparinmäki will be powered by 28 Vestas EnVentus V150-5.6MW and 13 V150-4.2MW wind turbines, having entered into a Power Purchase Agreement with Google covering a significant portion of the total production. Ilmatar, the developer and the vendor of the project, will provide technical and commercial management services once operational.
The transaction marks the first acquisition of Glennmont Clean Energy Fund III in Finland. With funds raised under this new vehicle, Glennmont is seeking to develop a diversified portfolio of renewable energy projects similar to its previous funds. This includes onshore wind, offshore wind, solar, and biomass across different geographies, delivering good performance and predictable returns for its investors.
DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale will provide the senior debt package as sole underwriter. As one of the most active project finance lenders in the Nordic market, DekaBank has financed a total capacity of more than 850MW underpinned by Power Purchase Agreements including Piiparinmäki. DekaBank is the Wertpapierhaus (securities services provider) of the German Savings Banks Finance Group, making it one of the largest securities services providers and real estate asset managers in Germany.
Eversheds acted as the legal advisor on the transaction for Glennmont and Krogerus acted as the legal advisor for Ilmatar. Augusta & Co acted as the sole financial advisor for Ilmatar. Hannes Snellman acted as legal advisor and Ramboll as technical advisor for DekaBank.
Francesco Cacciabue, CFO at Glennmont Partners, commented:
“We are delighted for the purchase of the Piiparinmäki Wind Farm in Finland, the largest onshore wind investment from Glennmont Clean Energy Fund III to date. Onshore wind represents a key strategic market for Glennmont and we expect our presence in this type of clean power generation to increase over the coming years. The investment in our first Finnish renewable energy project further underlines our experienced team’s ability at identifying and adding value for investors from assets across different areas of Europe.”
Kalle Pykälä, Chairman of Ilmatar Windpower and Board Member of Ilmatar Energy Commented:
“This landmark transaction is a successful vindication of Ilmatar Energy’s strategic decision to pursue a route to market for Piiparinmäki free of subsidy, and to focus instead on the innovative deployment of the new Vestas EnVentus platform backed by a Google PPA. The transaction comes only little more than a year after the joint venture with Omnes was established and represents a major step forward in our 1GW ambition. We look forward to continuing to work with the very experienced team at Glennmont.”
Serge Savasta, Managing Partner of Omnes:
“We are thrilled to have been able to support our partner Ilmatar in the sale of this prestigious asset to Glennmont Partners. This successful transaction validates our joint strategy with Ilmatar to acquire and develop the most cost-competitive wind projects in Europe and make them economically viable without government subsidies.”