Spanish Gamesa sells French wind energy project to UK’s Impax

Wind energy technology company Gamesa on Tuesday announced the sale of a wind project in France with installed capacity of 8 MW to Impax New Energy Investors II LP (NEF II), an investment fund. It is managed by London-based Impax Asset Management via its portfolio company Epuron France.

The La Souterraine wind project in the Limousin region of France will be equipped with 4 Gamesa G97-2.0 MW turbines. The construction of the project, which was developed and will be built by the Spanish corporation, will start by the end of the year.

“This operation shows Gamesa’s strategy in the wind farm development and sale market: to be a technology partner of investors such as Impax, who value investments in high quality renewable energy generation assets”, said in a press release Teodoro Monzón, wind farm development and sales director.

Joe Berry, Investment Director in Impax’s Private Equity Infrastructure team, commented that the fund is “delighted to sign our first Gamesa windfarm acquisition, and hope to expand our co-operation in the future. La Souterraine is an excellent fit within Epuron’s fast-growing French portfolio, and another milestone for the company’s ‘buy and build’ strategy.”

Gamesa has had a presence in France since 2000. As a wind farm developer, it has since brought 126 MW of capacity online in the country and has a project portfolio of more than 570 MW at varying stages of development. Gamesa is a leading industrial group in this market, installing 660 MW. The company also undertakes operation and maintenance (O&M) services on turbines totalling 412 MW at 30 wind farms across France.

Impax’s second private equity infrastructure fund, Impax New Energy Investors II LP, has €330 million of capital committed to the renewable energy sector and a growing portfolio of wind power projects including over 200 MW in construction and operation in France, Germany and Poland, as well as solar photovoltaic investments in Italy.