Newsec Infra advises GE and co-developers on the divestment of the 175 MW Björkvattnet wind farm to InfraVia Capital Partners

• GE Renewable Energy secures another win for its Cypress platform, providing 33 of its 5.3-158 Cypress turbines at Björkvattnet wind farm.
• The 175 MW wind farm will power the equivalent of 175,000 homes in Sweden.
• InfraVia Capital Partners, acting through InfraVia European Fund IV, has acquired the project from Vindparken, WindSpace and GE Renewable Energy.

GE announced today that it will supply 33 of its 5.3 MW Cypress wind turbines, its largest onshore wind turbine in the field, for the 175 MW Björkvattnet wind farm (“Project”) in Sweden. GE will also provide a 25-years Full Services Agreement. The project was developed by Vindparken and WindSpace, with support from GE Renewable Energy, and sold to InfraVia Capital Partners, a French infrastructure investor.

Located approximately 470km north of Stockholm, the 175 MW wind farm will generate enough renewable energy to power the equivalent of 175,000 homes in Sweden and will play a significant role supporting the country’s target to become fossil fuel-free by 2040. The project is expected to reach commercial operations by the end of 2020.

Peter Wells, CEO for Onshore Wind in the European region of GE Renewable Energy, said: “The Björkvattnet wind farm is an exciting opportunity for GE, and our Cypress platform is ideally suited for the project. Cypress is evolving into a versatile solution well suited for Europe’s varied terrain and wind conditions, including the Nordics, Germany, Spain, Italy and Austria, and we look forward to bringing it to Sweden for the first time. By working across the onshore wind value chain to optimize value for our customers, we will help reach its renewable energy targets.”

Announced last year by GE, the Cypress platform is the most powerful onshore wind turbine in operation today. It enables significant Annual Energy Production improvements, increased efficiency in serviceability, improved logistics and siting potential, and ultimately more value for customers. The unique two-piece blade design enables blades to be manufactured at even longer lengths, while improving logistics to drive costs down and offer more siting options, in locations previously inaccessible.

Jens Elton Andersen, WindSpace, said: “We are delighted to have the opportunity to enter into partnership with Vindparken, InfraVia and GE on this landmark project. The project is a great example of bringing together the right teams and competencies for successful execution. In the constant changing market, there is a growing need for new sophisticated technical, commercial and collaborative capabilities to maximize value and execution certainty through the development of new renewable energy projects. A landmark project also for the green transition.”

The Björkvattnet project demonstrates GE’s unique capability to work across the value chain in onshore wind, complementing customer needs and goals, with a broad skill set of project development, capital markets, value engineering, turbine application, and offtake solutions. GE provided the project with development support, offtake solutions, technical and commercial optimization, and equity syndication expertise through GE Energy Financial Services (“GE EFS”). Co-sponsors were advised by Newsec, a financial company, and Mannheimer Swartling (MSA), a Swedish law firm.

Vincent Levita, CEO of InfraVia, said : “InfraVia is an active investor in the renewable energy sector. This Project is our first investment in partnership with GE Renewable Energy and our first investment in Sweden. This investment also illustrates our interest in supporting “buy and build” strategies and represents a good opportunity to develop a diversified European wind power generation platform.”