26.07.2018 - The Axpo subsidiary Volkswind GmbH has sold four wind farms from its extensive portfolio in France to Allianz Global Investors. The transaction is part of Axpo's profitable growth strategy in the area of renewable energies. The construction, development, operation and sale of wind farms will continue to strengthen the profit contribution from the international business. The French wind farms will become part of the Allianz Renewable Energy Fund II (AREF II) portfolio, which is investing a total of approx. 350 million Euros in European wind and solar plants.
The four wind farms located in Western France have an installed capacity of 50.33 megawatts (MW) and generate a total of 126 million kWh of electricity per year with 20 turbines. This corresponds to the annual power consumption of about 25,000 households. Ownership of the plants has been transferred to the buyer retroactively as of October 2017. The parties have agreed not to disclose the purchase price. As part of the agreement, Volkswind will continue to be responsible for opera-tions management of the four wind farms in the future.
Christoph Sutter, Head of New Energies at Axpo, is pleased about the successful sale: "Axpo is following a clear strategy in order to realise higher value added from the renewable energies busi-ness. The sale of newly constructed wind farms is one of many options for us."
Axpo took over Volkswind GmbH, head-quartered in Ganderkesee, Germany, in the summer of 2015. The company is one of the leading wind farm developers and operators in Germany and France. The project pipeline includes wind farms with about 3,000 MW in various development phases.
The Axpo subsidiary recently commissioned a new wind farm in France. Four additional plants will go into operation in the course of this year. Volkswind has already built a total of 60 wind farms with a capacity of about 700 MW and this year another 64 MW will go on grid. As a comparison: Switzer-land currently has 37 wind plants with an installed capacity of 74.9 MW. In addition, Volkswind will start construction of five more wind farms this year. Axpo is keeping all its options open with regard to the portfolio. This also includes the autonomous operation of completed plants.
Corporate Communications