From: Mercom Capital Group

OX2 AB, a Swedish renewable energy company that develops, finance, and manages large-scale solar and wind projects, has acquired two portfolios in Greece with an installed capacity of 500 MW. The portfolios comprise solar and onshore wind projects in various development stages and are diversified across various regions of the country. OX2 will develop the projects with local co-development partners.

The Public Service Commission of Wisconsin unanimously approved We Energies’ purchase of the Paris Solar-Battery project. We Energies, Wisconsin Public Service, and Madison Gas and Electric are acquiring the 200 MW solar project that will produce enough power for about 60,000 homes and 110 MW of battery storage. The project is located on about 1,500 acres in the Town of Paris in Kenosha County and comprises of about 750,000 solar panels. WEC Energy Group utilities We Energies and Wisconsin Public Service will own 90% of the project. Madison Gas and Electric will own the other 10%. Construction is scheduled to start in 2022, and the project is expected to go into service in 2023.

Scatec, a renewable power producer, has refinanced the non-recourse debt facilities for the solar projects Kalkbult, Dreunberg, and Linde in South Africa with the existing lenders. Scatec’s share of proceeds from the refinancing, based on its 45% ownership in the projects, amounts to ZAR 540 million (~$36 million).

Green power producer Aventron has acquired a 4.8 MW/5 MWh battery in Germany as part of a strategy to steadily increase its available electricity storage volume. The company has bought the Woelkisch battery, connected to the same substation in Saxony as Aventron’s 12.3 MW Woelkisch wind project. It would initially use the battery for balancing power. The strategy Aventron follows to grow storage capacity is to focus mainly on opportunities to raise dams at its small hydropower plants while relying on large batteries at its wind and solar projects.

Brazilian energy company Engie Brasil Energia announced that it had finalized the acquisition of two solar PV projects, with a combined capacity of 259.8 MW in Brazil. Engie Brasil bought the projects from Engie Solar SAS, Solairedirect Investment Management SA, and Drankensberg Capital 1 SA for BRL 625 million (~$122.6 million). According to the announcement, the buyer also took over a net debt of roughly BRL 620 (~$123.50) million contracted with the Brazilian Development Bank (BNDES). The acquisition made Engie Brasil the owner of the 158.3 MW Paracatu and the 101.5 MW Floresta projects.

Blue Elephant Energy (BEE), a Hamburg-based independent operator of solar and wind projects, has acquired 44 MW of solar projects in Chile. Two projects with a capacity of 20 MW were acquired from the Finnish investment company Korkia and MoonValley Capital. In addition, the Chilean developer and EPC, oEnergy Generación Solar Distribuida SpA (oEnergy), will contribute a further 24 MW. The portfolio with a total capacity of 44 MW will be built as part of a joint venture with oEnergy. The total portfolio of BEE in Chile thus increases to 161 MW. The portfolio is distributed across the regions of Valparaíso, Metropolitana de Santiago, Libertador General Bernardo O’Higgins, Maule, and Biobio. The four projects have been transferred ready to build and will be commissioned by 2022.

For reports and trackers on funding and M&A transactions in solar, energy storage, smart grid, and efficiency sectors, click here.

Read last week’s project finance brief.