Glennmont Partners, one of Europe’s largest clean energy investment specialists, has entered into agreement to acquire Project Goudelancourt, a 16.8MW wind farm located in Northern France. The wind farm was developed and is currently under construction by Enertrag, a leading German developer that has installed over 660 wind turbines.
The wind farm is powered by seven Nordex N117 turbines and has secured a long-term operation and maintenance agreement with a reputable counterparty. The project has entered into a Power Purchase Agreement with EDF and benefits from a 15-year contract for difference tariff. ENERTRAG, as major service provider for technical management and maintenance across Europe with 1,400 turbines in its client portfolio, will continue to look after the technical and commercial operations of the wind farm.
DLA Piper acted as the legal advisor for the transaction, while Everoze acted as the technical advisor for Glennmont. Herbert Smith Freehills acted as the legal advisor for ENERTRAG.
The transaction marks the first acquisition of Glennmont’s Clean Energy Fund III, its third clean energy dedicated vehicle. With funds raised under this new vehicle, Glennmont is seeking to develop a diversified portfolio of renewable energy projects that includes wind, solar and biomass across different geographies, which delivers sustainable returns for its investors.
Francesco Cacciabue, CFO at Glennmont Partners, commented: “We look forward to completing this transaction which demonstrates Glennmont’s confidence in the clean energy sector across Europe as our investors enjoy an unprecedented yield from our funds’ assets. The complexity of this transaction was underpinned by the level of expertise here at Glennmont and we look forward to releasing more value from our assets, both in France and further afield, including the UK. The strong demand from investors underlines the quality of the assets we invest in, which offer deep market potential and a balance of yields and returns.”
Simon Hagedorn, Head of Finance and M&A at ENERTRAG, said: “We appreciate strengthening our mutually beneficial cooperation and are looking forward to new ventures with Glennmont. By providing the technical and commercial management services, ENERTRAG remains involved on a long term basis in a project started from scratch in 2007.”
Glennmont’s new Fund, as with its previous ones, will invest across a range of renewable energy technologies in the UK and across Europe. With onshore wind representing a key strategic market, Glennmont aims to increase its presence through deploying up to €300m in this sector alone in the coming years with the ultimate goal of forming a large portfolio of complementary power plants
