German energy firm Innogy SE is making its first foray into the US wind power market, with a deal to buy a 2GW portfolio of onshore wind projects from EverPower Wind Holdings for an undisclosed sum.
Innogy has teamed up with private equity investor Terra Firma Capital Partners for the deal announced today, under which it will acquire more than 2GW of projects at various stages of development as the German firm eyes “long-term growth in the US”.
Hans Bünting, CEO of renewables at Innogy SE, said the US market was one of the firm’s key growth areas for renewables. “Establishing our subsidiary, Innogy Renewables US LLC, in 2016 was our first step to enter this market,” he said in a statement. “The acquisition of EverPower’s impressive pipeline is a logical step consistent with our commitment. We are very pleased to have made our first acquisition in the US. And this is just the beginning.”
The deal includes around 20 onshore wind projects across seven states – Ohio, Pennsylvania, Montana, New York, Maryland and Maine – and construction will start gradually, according to Andrew Young, CEO of Innogy’s US renewables business based in Pittsburgh.
“The project pipeline includes more than 500MW in advanced stages of development targeted to become operational by 2020 thanks to the hard work of the EverPower team, the backing of Terra Firma, and the assistance of innogy by Marathon Capital, LLC in this transaction,” Young said.
Subject to regulatory approval, the deal is expected to close in the second quarter of next year.
Innogy said it was also investigating project opportunities for offshore wind and solar in the US, and also plans to enter other markets for renewable generation such as Canada.
Source: businessgreen.com
