NordSIP (Stockholm) – The Foresight Group has announced it closed a syndicated co-investment deal for the greenfield 231MW Skaftåsen onshore wind project in Sweden, through its Foresight Energy Infrastructure Partners (FEIP) specialist renewables infrastructure fund. FEIP achieved first close at €342 million in January 2020.
The co-investor syndicate included BAE Systems Pension Funds Investment Management Ltd (“BAPFIM”), Polhem Infra, Norway’s KLP pension fund, and funds managed or advised by Arcano Partners. The co-investors have each entered into advisory agreements with Foresight in relation to their investments, according to Foresight.
Launching Siemens Gamesa Wind Turbine Platform
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, according to Foresight. Located in the Härjedalen municipality of Central Sweden, construction at the Skaftåsen site is progressing according to plan, on schedule and on budget, according to the investment manager. 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.
Investing in a Resilient Future
Foresight is a leading independent infrastructure and private equity investment manager which has been managing investment funds on behalf of institutions and retail clients for more than 35 years. Foresight has over €5.3 billion of Assets Under Management, of which over €4.5 billion relates to renewable energy infrastructure. Foresight currently manages more than 290 renewable generation assets globally, with a total generating capacity of 2.2GW. Foresight has invested in over 130 solar plants and has more than 1.3GW of solar generation assets under management around the world. Foresight has more than 600MW of wind generation assets across the UK, France, Germany and Sweden of which 370MW are operational.
“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,” Richard Thompson, Partner, Foresight Group said. “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.”
Striking the Right Balance
“Being who we are and with the support of the AP Funds, sustainability is the alpha and the omega of our approach to investing,” says Oskar Backman, Investment Manager at Polhem Infra, a sustainable infrastructure investor backed by AP1, AP3 and AP4. “Having done our own assessment of this project, we found its risk-return and sustainability profiles matched our sustainable approach. We were also encouraged by the opportunity to join Foresight and the other professional and institutional investors with a strong reputation in this field. As a long term investor, we believe that investing in environmental solutions such as this project and with these partners offers investors the right balance between financial returns and sustainable solutions.”
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. “We are proud to be part of Nordic investors commitment to this Swedish greenfield wind project that deploys the most powerful onshore wind turbines globally,” says Kerim Kaskal, Partner at Worthwhile Capital Partners. “Sustainable infrastructure investments such as these, with their high risk-adjusted returns and low correlation to investors’ total portfolios, are ideal for the transition towards less volatile and more sustainable investments. The Skaftåsen project illustrates that the transition towards more sustainable portfolios is now taking place at scale.”
Image by Free-Photos from Pixabay
