Wednesday 18th February 2015

Actis and Mainstream in $1.9bn Africa tie-up

New markets investor Actis and developer Mainstream Renewable Power have set up a company to develop wind and solar in Africa.

The companies have formed Lekela Power, which is set to develop up to 900MW of wind and solar projects across Africa by 2018 with a total value of $1.9bn. Actis is set to take a 60% of equity in the business with Mainstream holding the remaining 40%.

Actis and Mainstream have previously partnered in Chile and South Africa. Mainstream last week reached financial close on three schemes in South Africa totalling 360MW that will form the core of the Lekela platform. It is also working on the 225MW Ayitepa wind farm in Ghana, which is set to transfer into Lekela at financial close.

Forewind wins 2.4GW Dogger backing

The UK government has given planning consent to the Forewind consortium’s 2.4GW offshore wind farm Dogger Bank Creyke Beck.

The consortium, which is comprised of RWE, SSE, Statkraft and Statoil, was yesterday given approval for the project off the east coast of the UK. The approval follows a six-month examination by the Planning Inspectorate last year. The project is set to comprise two 1.2GW wind farms with up to 200 turbines each.

Construction is scheduled to start in 2017, with commissioning of the first phase in 2018 and completion of the scheme in 2022.

Gestamp mulls renewables stake sale

Spanish industrial group Gestamp is reportedly considering a sale of a stake in its renewable energy arm, Gestamp Renewables.

Reuters has reported that Gestamp has hired Bank of America Merrill Lynch to look at the sale of a stake in the subsidiary or a partial listing of the unit. It quoted a spokesman from Gestamp as saying it was looking at its strategy for the renewables business.

Gestamp Renewables was founded in 2005 and has built more than 1.1GW of renewable energy projects, including 500MW of wind energy. It has wind turbine tower factories in Brazil, Spain and Turkey that produce 2,000 towers a year between them.

PNE Wind seeks 1.2GW UK partner

German developer PNE Wind is looking for a partner to develop projects in the UK, mainly Scotland, with capacity of 1.2GW.

PNE currently operates in the UK through its subsidiary PNE Wind UK. The company has announced it is looking for a “financially strong” joint venture partner to help it quickly grow its portfolio.

Martin Billhardt, chief executive of PNE Wind, said bringing in a partner would enable PNE to “quickly carry out investments in construction, operations and the monitoring of [UK] wind farms".

Shanghvi pays $290m for Suzlon stake

Indian pharma billionaire Dilip Shanghvi is set to pay $290m for a 23% stake in developer and turbine manufacturer Suzlon.

Shangvi is India’s second-richest man and founder of Sun Pharma, which is the country’s second-largest pharmaceuticals company. His personal investment firm Dilip Shangvi Family & Associates has signed a deal to buy a stake in Suzlon; and is also poised to set up a joint venture with Suzlon to develop a 450MW wind farm.

Shanghvi said the deal was “in sync with the Prime Minister’s [Narendra Modi] long term vision and immense potential of the renewable energy market”.

It is the second big deal in two months for Suzlon, which in January agreed to sell German subsidiary Senvion to US private equity house Centerbridge Partners for €1bn.

Actis and Mainstream in $1.9bn Africa tie-up

New markets investor Actis and developer Mainstream Renewable Power have set up a company to develop wind and solar in Africa.

The companies have formed Lekela Power, which is set to develop up to 900MW of wind and solar projects across Africa by 2018 with a total value of $1.9bn. Actis is set to take a 60% of equity in the business with Mainstream holding the remaining 40%.

Actis and Mainstream have previously partnered in Chile and South Africa. Mainstream last week reached financial close on three schemes in South Africa totalling 360MW that will form the core of the Lekela platform. It is also working on the 225MW Ayitepa wind farm in Ghana, which is set to transfer into Lekela at financial close.

Forewind wins 2.4GW Dogger backing

The UK government has given planning consent to the Forewind consortium’s 2.4GW offshore wind farm Dogger Bank Creyke Beck.

The consortium, which is comprised of RWE, SSE, Statkraft and Statoil, was yesterday given approval for the project off the east coast of the UK. The approval follows a six-month examination by the Planning Inspectorate last year. The project is set to comprise two 1.2GW wind farms with up to 200 turbines each.

Construction is scheduled to start in 2017, with commissioning of the first phase in 2018 and completion of the scheme in 2022.

Gestamp mulls renewables stake sale

Spanish industrial group Gestamp is reportedly considering a sale of a stake in its renewable energy arm, Gestamp Renewables.

Reuters has reported that Gestamp has hired Bank of America Merrill Lynch to look at the sale of a stake in the subsidiary or a partial listing of the unit. It quoted a spokesman from Gestamp as saying it was looking at its strategy for the renewables business.

Gestamp Renewables was founded in 2005 and has built more than 1.1GW of renewable energy projects, including 500MW of wind energy. It has wind turbine tower factories in Brazil, Spain and Turkey that produce 2,000 towers a year between them.

PNE Wind seeks 1.2GW UK partner

German developer PNE Wind is looking for a partner to develop projects in the UK, mainly Scotland, with capacity of 1.2GW.

PNE currently operates in the UK through its subsidiary PNE Wind UK. The company has announced it is looking for a “financially strong” joint venture partner to help it quickly grow its portfolio.

Martin Billhardt, chief executive of PNE Wind, said bringing in a partner would enable PNE to “quickly carry out investments in construction, operations and the monitoring of [UK] wind farms".

Shanghvi pays $290m for Suzlon stake

Indian pharma billionaire Dilip Shanghvi is set to pay $290m for a 23% stake in developer and turbine manufacturer Suzlon.

Shangvi is India’s second-richest man and founder of Sun Pharma, which is the country’s second-largest pharmaceuticals company. His personal investment firm Dilip Shangvi Family & Associates has signed a deal to buy a stake in Suzlon; and is also poised to set up a joint venture with Suzlon to develop a 450MW wind farm.

Shanghvi said the deal was “in sync with the Prime Minister’s [Narendra Modi] long term vision and immense potential of the renewable energy market”.

It is the second big deal in two months for Suzlon, which in January agreed to sell German subsidiary Senvion to US private equity house Centerbridge Partners for €1bn.

Actis and Mainstream in $1.9bn Africa tie-up

New markets investor Actis and developer Mainstream Renewable Power have set up a company to develop wind and solar in Africa.

The companies have formed Lekela Power, which is set to develop up to 900MW of wind and solar projects across Africa by 2018 with a total value of $1.9bn. Actis is set to take a 60% of equity in the business with Mainstream holding the remaining 40%.

Actis and Mainstream have previously partnered in Chile and South Africa. Mainstream last week reached financial close on three schemes in South Africa totalling 360MW that will form the core of the Lekela platform. It is also working on the 225MW Ayitepa wind farm in Ghana, which is set to transfer into Lekela at financial close.

Forewind wins 2.4GW Dogger backing

The UK government has given planning consent to the Forewind consortium’s 2.4GW offshore wind farm Dogger Bank Creyke Beck.

The consortium, which is comprised of RWE, SSE, Statkraft and Statoil, was yesterday given approval for the project off the east coast of the UK. The approval follows a six-month examination by the Planning Inspectorate last year. The project is set to comprise two 1.2GW wind farms with up to 200 turbines each.

Construction is scheduled to start in 2017, with commissioning of the first phase in 2018 and completion of the scheme in 2022.

Gestamp mulls renewables stake sale

Spanish industrial group Gestamp is reportedly considering a sale of a stake in its renewable energy arm, Gestamp Renewables.

Reuters has reported that Gestamp has hired Bank of America Merrill Lynch to look at the sale of a stake in the subsidiary or a partial listing of the unit. It quoted a spokesman from Gestamp as saying it was looking at its strategy for the renewables business.

Gestamp Renewables was founded in 2005 and has built more than 1.1GW of renewable energy projects, including 500MW of wind energy. It has wind turbine tower factories in Brazil, Spain and Turkey that produce 2,000 towers a year between them.

PNE Wind seeks 1.2GW UK partner

German developer PNE Wind is looking for a partner to develop projects in the UK, mainly Scotland, with capacity of 1.2GW.

PNE currently operates in the UK through its subsidiary PNE Wind UK. The company has announced it is looking for a “financially strong” joint venture partner to help it quickly grow its portfolio.

Martin Billhardt, chief executive of PNE Wind, said bringing in a partner would enable PNE to “quickly carry out investments in construction, operations and the monitoring of [UK] wind farms".

Shanghvi pays $290m for Suzlon stake

Indian pharma billionaire Dilip Shanghvi is set to pay $290m for a 23% stake in developer and turbine manufacturer Suzlon.

Shangvi is India’s second-richest man and founder of Sun Pharma, which is the country’s second-largest pharmaceuticals company. His personal investment firm Dilip Shangvi Family & Associates has signed a deal to buy a stake in Suzlon; and is also poised to set up a joint venture with Suzlon to develop a 450MW wind farm.

Shanghvi said the deal was “in sync with the Prime Minister’s [Narendra Modi] long term vision and immense potential of the renewable energy market”.

It is the second big deal in two months for Suzlon, which in January agreed to sell German subsidiary Senvion to US private equity house Centerbridge Partners for €1bn.