French failures curtail latest onshore auction
The French government only backed five onshore projects of 118MW in its latest wind auction, which is less than a quarter of the 500MW available capacity.
The absence of an environmental authority since December reduced the amount of winning schemes, because projects had to be fully permitted to be eligible for support. Only nine projects totalling 216MW were declared eligible for this round. According to French wind association FEE, more than 170 wind projects totalling 3GW are still awaiting environmental approval. The winning bidders in this latest auction included Boralex, Engie, Elicio and RES.
Carlyle Group enters wind market with 612MW deal
US private equity firm Carlyle Group is poised to enter the wind market by buying a 612MW portfolio of wind farms in the state of New York.
Carlyle is set to buy six operational wind farms totalling 612MW from developer Noble Environmental Power. The portfolio is made up of three wind farms in Clinton County totalling 279MW, two in Wyoming County totalling 227MW, and one in Franklin County of 106MW. The deal is due to close by the end of 2018.
Mainstream seeks investors for 1.3GW Chilean portfolio
Mainstream Renewable Power is seeking investors for a 1.3GW wind portfolio in Chile, which is estimated to be worth up to $1.65bn.
Mainstream is looking to sell a stake in a portfolio of seven wind farms with total capacity of 1.3GW, which are backed by power purchase agreements with the Chilean government. The wind farms are reportedly set to be worth $1.65bn on completion. Mainstream owns a total of 2.3GW renewables projects in Chile, of which 1.8GW is made up of wind farms and 433MW of solar farms.
Engie and J-Power hook up for offshore projects
French utility Engie and Japanese utility J-Power have signed an agreement to co-develop offshore wind projects in Asia and Europe.
The two utilities have signed a memorandum of understanding to collaborate on the development of offshore wind farms, including floating projects, in Europe, Japan and elsewhere. The partners are also set to carry out research to boost the competitiveness of floating schemes and make them commercially viable.
Former GE executive Rannou becomes Senvion CEO
German turbine maker Senvion has appointed former GE Renewable Energy executive Yves Rannou as its chief executive.
Rannou has over 20 years' experience in the renewables industry at General Electric and Alstom, including his most recent role as CEO of GE Renewable Energy’s hydro division since 2015. Rannou will take over from acting CEO and CFO Manav Sharma. Sharma replaced previous CEO Juergen Geissinger, who stepped down in May after two-and-a-half years in the role, on an interim basis.
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