France-based private equity and infrastructure investor Omnes Capital and Finnish wind power operator Ilmatar Windpower have formed new joint venture to build and operate up to 1GW of wind power projects in Nordic region.
Image: An onshore wind farm. Photo: Photo by Aniek Wessel on Unsplash.
The new joint venture, named Ilmatar Energy, has already acquired a wind project in Finland from state-owned Metsähallitus.
The acquired project, Piiparinmäki-Murtomäki, will comprise 50 turbines to generate over 200MW capacity. It is planned to be built without subsidies.
Scheduled to be commissioned in 2021, the project will be able to produce over 600 GWh of clean energy annually.
Over the next five years, Ilmatar Energy plans to construct and operate up to 1000MW of wind power projects.
The JV platform also aims to make further acquisitions of wind assets either in development stage or construction ready, in Finland and other Nordic regions.
Ilmatar chairman and co-founder Kalle Pykälä said: “With Ilmatar Energy, we are taking both the Finnish wind market as well as Ilmatar to the next level. No longer driven by subsidies, the Finnish wind market is ready to continue its rapid growth.
“We are looking forward to a long and mutually beneficial co-operation with Omnes, which is a uniquely experienced partner with a strong understanding of working with Joint Ventures as well as Private Equity enabling us to capture value like no other player on this market.”
FPCI Capenergie 3, a renewables fund managed by Omnes, owns 70% stake in the JV while Ilmatar Windpower holds the remaining 30% interest and acts as Ilmatar Energy’s manager.
Ilmatar CEO Erkka Saario said: “We have seen increasing levels of interest from several large consumers of electricity to drive their profitability as well as environmental responsibility through the use of long-term power purchase agreements (PPAs).
“We are able to offer electricity at a magnitude and price level never before seen on the Finnish wind power market.”