Wednesday 25th May 2016

Beatrice reaches £2.6bn financial close

The 588MW Beatrice wind farm has achieved financial close after investors joined debt financiers to commit £2.6bn to the project.

SSE announced financial close for the offshore project on Monday.
Beatrice is due to complete in Scotland’s Moray Firth in 2019, and is the first UK wind farm to be backed by a Chinese investor.

China’s SDIC Power Holdings owns a 25% share of the project, SSE has 40% and Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners has 35%.

Germany: Wind cuts 'won't match solar'

Germany’s Commerzbank does not expect upcoming wind energy auctions to cut prices to the same extent as they have with solar.

In an interview with Bloomberg, the bank's renewable energy head
Ingrid Spletter-Weiss said more rigid pricing structures meant wind projects would likely only achieve up to about 10% cost cuts, which is half of cost cuts seen for solar over the last four solar auctions.

Spletter-Weiss added that the bank planned to invest $842m in renewables this year, focusing on wind in Europe and the US.

Aventron snaps up 18MW Italian scheme

Dresden-based power producer Aventron has bought Melfi II, an 18MW project in the Basilicata region of Italy, from WSB Group.

The wind farm, comprising nine Vestas V110 turbines in a high-wind area, is expected to produce 42GWh and €4.8m a year,Aventron said in a press announcement. It did not disclose the purchase price for the scheme.

The purchase is Aventron’s third acquisition from WSB Group and its first purchase of wind assets in Italy, where it currently owns almost 12MW of solar.

Iberdrola starts 150MW Brazil complex

The Spanish renewable energy giant Iberdrola has switched on its largest wind complex to date in Latin America.

The company developed the 150MW Calangos plant, made up of five 30MW wind farms, with part-owned Brazilian firm Neoenergia in Rio Grande Do Norte, Brazil.

The complex uses 2MW G90 and G87 turbines from Gamesa, the Spanish manufacturer, Iberdrola said.

Poland moves to restrict wind industry

Poland has passed legislation limiting the location of new projects and setting higher property taxes for wind farm owners.

Under the potentially-devastating changes, new projects will need to be sited at least ten times the turbine height away from homes, which equals between 1.5 to 2km in distance.

The prospect of higher taxes, meanwhile, has prompted concerns over the financial position of some wind operators and sparked a call for compensation by CEZ, a Czech utility with Polish assets.

Beatrice reaches £2.6bn financial close

The 588MW Beatrice wind farm has achieved financial close after investors joined debt financiers to commit £2.6bn to the project.

SSE announced financial close for the offshore project on Monday.
Beatrice is due to complete in Scotland’s Moray Firth in 2019, and is the first UK wind farm to be backed by a Chinese investor.

China’s SDIC Power Holdings owns a 25% share of the project, SSE has 40% and Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners has 35%.

Germany: Wind cuts 'won't match solar'

Germany’s Commerzbank does not expect upcoming wind energy auctions to cut prices to the same extent as they have with solar.

In an interview with Bloomberg, the bank's renewable energy head
Ingrid Spletter-Weiss said more rigid pricing structures meant wind projects would likely only achieve up to about 10% cost cuts, which is half of cost cuts seen for solar over the last four solar auctions.

Spletter-Weiss added that the bank planned to invest $842m in renewables this year, focusing on wind in Europe and the US.

Aventron snaps up 18MW Italian scheme

Dresden-based power producer Aventron has bought Melfi II, an 18MW project in the Basilicata region of Italy, from WSB Group.

The wind farm, comprising nine Vestas V110 turbines in a high-wind area, is expected to produce 42GWh and €4.8m a year,Aventron said in a press announcement. It did not disclose the purchase price for the scheme.

The purchase is Aventron’s third acquisition from WSB Group and its first purchase of wind assets in Italy, where it currently owns almost 12MW of solar.

Iberdrola starts 150MW Brazil complex

The Spanish renewable energy giant Iberdrola has switched on its largest wind complex to date in Latin America.

The company developed the 150MW Calangos plant, made up of five 30MW wind farms, with part-owned Brazilian firm Neoenergia in Rio Grande Do Norte, Brazil.

The complex uses 2MW G90 and G87 turbines from Gamesa, the Spanish manufacturer, Iberdrola said.

Poland moves to restrict wind industry

Poland has passed legislation limiting the location of new projects and setting higher property taxes for wind farm owners.

Under the potentially-devastating changes, new projects will need to be sited at least ten times the turbine height away from homes, which equals between 1.5 to 2km in distance.

The prospect of higher taxes, meanwhile, has prompted concerns over the financial position of some wind operators and sparked a call for compensation by CEZ, a Czech utility with Polish assets.

Beatrice reaches £2.6bn financial close

The 588MW Beatrice wind farm has achieved financial close after investors joined debt financiers to commit £2.6bn to the project.

SSE announced financial close for the offshore project on Monday.
Beatrice is due to complete in Scotland’s Moray Firth in 2019, and is the first UK wind farm to be backed by a Chinese investor.

China’s SDIC Power Holdings owns a 25% share of the project, SSE has 40% and Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners has 35%.

Germany: Wind cuts 'won't match solar'

Germany’s Commerzbank does not expect upcoming wind energy auctions to cut prices to the same extent as they have with solar.

In an interview with Bloomberg, the bank's renewable energy head
Ingrid Spletter-Weiss said more rigid pricing structures meant wind projects would likely only achieve up to about 10% cost cuts, which is half of cost cuts seen for solar over the last four solar auctions.

Spletter-Weiss added that the bank planned to invest $842m in renewables this year, focusing on wind in Europe and the US.

Aventron snaps up 18MW Italian scheme

Dresden-based power producer Aventron has bought Melfi II, an 18MW project in the Basilicata region of Italy, from WSB Group.

The wind farm, comprising nine Vestas V110 turbines in a high-wind area, is expected to produce 42GWh and €4.8m a year,Aventron said in a press announcement. It did not disclose the purchase price for the scheme.

The purchase is Aventron’s third acquisition from WSB Group and its first purchase of wind assets in Italy, where it currently owns almost 12MW of solar.

Iberdrola starts 150MW Brazil complex

The Spanish renewable energy giant Iberdrola has switched on its largest wind complex to date in Latin America.

The company developed the 150MW Calangos plant, made up of five 30MW wind farms, with part-owned Brazilian firm Neoenergia in Rio Grande Do Norte, Brazil.

The complex uses 2MW G90 and G87 turbines from Gamesa, the Spanish manufacturer, Iberdrola said.

Poland moves to restrict wind industry

Poland has passed legislation limiting the location of new projects and setting higher property taxes for wind farm owners.

Under the potentially-devastating changes, new projects will need to be sited at least ten times the turbine height away from homes, which equals between 1.5 to 2km in distance.

The prospect of higher taxes, meanwhile, has prompted concerns over the financial position of some wind operators and sparked a call for compensation by CEZ, a Czech utility with Polish assets.