- Co-investment from leading European institutional investors alongside Foresight Energy Infrastructure Partners to finance construction of Swedish greenfield wind project
- Syndicate of co-investors includes BAE Systems Pension Funds Investment Management Ltd acting on behalf of the BAE Systems Pension Funds, Polhem Infra KB, Kommunal Landspensjonskasse Gjensidig Forsikringsselskap and Arcano managed funds
- First commercial-scale project to use the new Siemens Gamesa 5x platform, deploying the most powerful onshore wind turbines globally to-date
- Targeting full operation in 2021
LONDON, 20 April 2020: Foresight Group LLP (“Foresight”) is pleased to announce the closing of co-investment from a syndicate of four institutions it has arranged to invest alongside Foresight Energy Infrastructure Partners (“FEIP”), the specialist renewables infrastructure fund which achieved first close at €342 million in January 2020, to finance the greenfield 231MW Skaftåsen onshore wind project in Sweden.
The project, which Foresight acquired from Arise AB in December 2019, is FEIP’s first investment and represents the largest wind farm in Foresight’s expanding portfolio. The co-investor syndicate is comprised of BAE Systems Pension Funds Investment Management Ltd (“BAPFIM”) acting on behalf of the BAE Systems Pension Funds, Polhem Infra KB (“Polhem”), Kommunal Landspensjonskasse Gjensidig Forsikringsselskap (“KLP”), and funds managed or advised by Arcano Partners (“Arcano”). The co-investors have each entered into advisory agreements with Foresight in relation to their investments.
Located in Härjedalen municipality of Central Sweden, construction at the Skaftåsen site is progressing well, on schedule and on budget. The wind farm will be the first in the world to feature the most powerful onshore wind turbines developed to-date – the Siemens Gamesa 5x platform utilising 35 x SG 5.8-155 turbines with flexible power rating and operating at 6.6MW.
The 231MW project has been assessed favourably against Foresight’s stringent sustainability requirements. It is estimated that the project will generate power equivalent to saving 425,000 tonnes of CO2 emissions per annum when compared to coal-powered electricity generation. The project will also contribute 1% of revenues to the local community during operations.
Richard Thompson, Partner, Foresight Group said: “We are delighted to have been able to introduce such a strong syndicate of co-investors alongside our Foresight Energy Infrastructure Partners fund to support the development of this, our first greenfield onshore wind investment in Sweden. We are continuing to find strong demand amongst European institutional investors for the renewable energy infrastructure asset class, given both its resilience and strong sustainability characteristics, and expect to be able to announce further closes for FEIP, which has a target size of €500m, in due course.”
Advisers:
Foresight was advised by Ashurst (Legal adviser) and Vinge (local legal counsel), and EY (Financial and tax due diligence) and Worthwhile Capital Partners, who acted as Placement Agent in the Nordic region.
