Taaleri, a Finnish financial services company, has set its sights on the North American renewable energy market.
The company is currently engaged in negotiations on its private equity funds’ first energy projects in North America. In the next few years, Taaleri aims to launch wind power projects valued at approximately $600 million in the US and Canada.
Taaleri CEO Juhani Elomaa said: “We believe that the projects will advance most quickly in Canada. For example, the wind power market in the province of Alberta is attractive. We are currently negotiating on the development and investment of a number of projects with a projected total capacity of over 500MW.
"We already have the capital to invest, so we can move quickly when we identify suitable projects or project portfolios."
The Province of Alberta aims to replace at latest two-thirds of its fossil energy production with renewable energy sources, of which wind power is the most significant.
Wind conditions on the prairie, which makes up most of the area of Alberta, are particularly favorable for wind power production.
Elomaa said: “Currently, the political winds also favor renewable energy projects more in Canada than in the US. In the US, the new administration is hesitating on advancing a renewable energy policy, even though two-thirds of Americans favor the replacement of fossil energy forms with renewable sources.
"On the other hand, in Alberta, a well-known gas and oil province, investments are now being quickly launched."
In September, Taaleri established an Energy segment, focusing primarily on renewable energy projects. Taaleri has cooperation agreements with Wärtsilä and ABB.
Wärtsilä has experience of comprehensive deliveries of power plants in over 170 countries. ABB, on the other hand, is one of the world’s leading suppliers of equipment and partial solutions for solar energy production plants.
Wind power production capacity is projected to increase globally by 83 per cent from its present level by 2020. Taaleri aims to make investments in selected wind and solar power projects in Europe, India, Africa and North America.