Innergex to acquire 119.5 MW of wind farms in France

Innergex Renewable Energy Inc (TSE:INE) on Wednesday announced a deal to acquire 119.5 MW of wind projects in France from Velocita Energy Developments (France) Ltd, an affiliate of Riverstone Holdings LLC.

The Canadian renewable power producer is buying three wind farms, the 36.1-MW Rougemont-1, 44.5-MW Rougemont-2 and 38.9-MW Vaite, that are expected to be fully commissioned in phases until the end of 2017. Currently, 97.3 MW of the overall capacity is mechanically completed, with the rest of the turbines being in late-stage construction.

Located in France's Bourgogne-Franche-Comte region, the wind farms will use 43 GE wind turbines of 2.78 MW each and will sell their output to EDF (EPA:EDF) under power purchase agreements (PPAs) with an initial term of 15 years.

Innergex will hold a 69.55% stake in the portfolio, while the remaining 30.45% will be owned by Desjardins Group Pension Plan. The purchase price of the equity is about EUR 51.4 million (USD 56m), Innergex said. The Canadian company's net share of the purchase price will be about EUR 31.3 million, which will be paid from its corporate revolving credit facility. Non-recourse debts for the projects of EUR 174.3 million are already in place.

The acquisition, which is expected to be completed by the end of the second quarter, expands Innergex's presence in France and will see the company have 274 MW in operation or under construction in the country. "France is an exciting market as it has adopted vigorous climate change targets and has a potential to double its onshore wind capacity by 2023," said Innergex president and chief executive Michel Letellier.

(EUR 1 = USD 1.090)

Choose your newsletter by Renewables Now. Join for free!