Austria's Enery Development has completed the acquisition of Bulgaria-based ACWA Power CF Karad PV Park, the owner of Karadzhalovo solar power plant, and plant operator NOMAC Bulgaria from Saudi-based ACWA Power, the seller said.
In a deal concluded on September 10, Enery Development acquired both the owner and the operator of the 60.4 MWp solar park, in the southern part of Bulgaria, for an undisclosed price, АCWA Power said in a statement on Thursday.
ACWA Power, a developer, investor and operator of power generation and desalinated water plants, was the end-owner of the Bulgarian companies through two of its subsidiaries - Malta-registered ACF Renewable Energy Ltd, which controlled ACWA Power CF Karad PV Park and Saudi-based NOMAC Ltd., which was the owner of NOMAC Bulgaria.
According to the statement, both transactions constitute the largest brownfield photovoltaic (PV) deal in Bulgaria to date.
The Karadzhalovo power plant, which is the largest single-site PV plant in Bulgaria, generated 85.56 GWh of carbon-neutral energy in 2019, ACWA Power noted.
"Being one of our early Solar PV investments, the Karadzhalovo plant provided us with great learning to expand our footprint in the sector, however, while we maintain our focus on renewables, given the relatively small size of this plant in comparison to the remainder in our rapidly growing portfolio, we believe it now makes sense to sell our stake in this plant," Rajit Nanda, chief investment Officer at ACWA Power said in the statement.
In March, Bulgaria's competition authority granted approval to Enery Development to acquire 100% of ACWA Power CF Karad PV Park and Nomac Bulgaria, stating that the deal is not expected to affect competition on the local market.
Enery Development is currently after another key investment in Bulgaria. Enery BG 1, a Bulgaria-based unit of Enery Development, received a preliminary approval for the construction of a 400 MW solar park by the municipal council of Haskovo, the local government said earlier this month.
The photovoltaic plant, to spread on some 407.6 ha near the villages of Knizhovnik and Dolno Voyvodino in Haskovo municipality, is expected to generate 560,000,000 KWh of clean energy and save 650,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions per year at full capacity, Nikola Gazdov, CEO of Enery BG 1, said back then.
Vienna-based Enery Development, founded in 2019, is an operations-led renewable power infrastructure investment company which provides affordable and reliable clean energy to its customers, according to information published on its LinkedIn profile.
(1 euro = 1.95583 levs)
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Photo: ACWA Power, Karadzhalovo PV plant/ All rights reserved.
