The wind turbines are located in four wind parks and have an installed capacity of around 60 MW. ewz (Deutschland) GmbH¹ will acquire a 51% share in the Swedish operating company. Aquila Capital, which is part of the Aquila Group, will hold the remaining 49%, thereby increasing the wind portfolio it manages for its global institutional client base to a total of 360 MW. A key success factor of the transaction is the cooperation with various strategic partners: As announced in January 2014, Google will purchase the entire electricity produced by the four wind farms under a long-term PPA. Eolus have been entrusted to provide technical and administrative services to the wind farms.
Roman Rosslenbroich, Co-Founder and CEO at Aquila Capital said: “The transaction underlines the growing popularity of the partnership model between utility companies and specialist financial investors, which harnesses their joint financial, regulatory and technical expertise. This is proving to be a highly efficient solution to financing infrastructure projects. “Previously, institutional investors preferred to allocate capital to real assets through funds and direct investments. Today, we are seeing a clear trend towards co-investment structures, particularly in the renewable energy and infrastructure segments. The Aquila Group is ideally positioned to capitalise on the co-investments trend as we provide many of the key services required under one roof.”
Bruno Hürlimann, Head of Strategic Projects at ewz added: “The innovative financing concept enables ewz to deploy the available funding in a more efficient and targeted manner in order to secure production capacity for wind energy in the long term. In addition, the core expertise of ewz as an energy provider, that of Eolus Vind AB as a wind farm developer and of Aquila Capital as a financial service provider, complement one another perfectly.”
“Entering into business with companies such as ewz and Aquila Capital, who strive to make a difference through strategic investments in renewable electricity generation, is an exciting and growing part of Eolus activities and perspectives,” stated Hans-Christian Schulze, Deputy CEO and Head of Sales at Eolus.
About ewz
ewz is one of the ten largest energy utility companies in Switzerland has been supplying the city of Zurich and parts of the Grisons with power since 1892. Ewz is a municipal service division. The company currently employs 1,176 employees and offers a comprehensive range of energy services for its 223,000 customers.
About Eolus
Eolus Vind AB is one of the leading wind farm developers in Sweden. Eolus is active throughout the value chain from development of green field projects to the construction and operation of wind farms. Eolus offers attractive and competitive investments in the Nordic and Baltic countries to both local and international investors. Founded in 1990, Eolus has constructed more than 460 of the 2 800 wind turbines operating in Sweden.