BayWa r.e sells 42 MW Lacedonia wind farm in Italy

BayWa r.e. bought a 65 percent share in the project in 2014, to help realise the wind farm for the family owned developer. BayWa r.e. provided the equity, managed its construction and bankability and has been providing ongoing operation management since completion in December 2015.

Speaking of the sale Lorenzo Palombi, Managing Director of BayWa r.e. Italia Srl, said: “One of the most critical aspects of developing any renewable energy project is bringing together the financing. Thanks to our strong financial standing and track record in development and operations, we were able to provide the investment and expertise needed to realise the Lacedonia project and to tailor the structure of the transaction to the special requirements of the Joint venture partner.

“We often partner with smaller developers, who otherwise may struggle to bring projects forward, and are pleased to sell our shareholding back to NISIDA.”

Alessandra Toschi, also Managing Director of BayWa r.e. Italia Srl, commented: “In this transaction we also developed and acquired all necessary land rights. We built 20 km of HV lines and a substation in order to meet the tariff deadline, and successfully transferred this to the grid operator, Terna”.

Since the project was completed, BayWa r.e.’s services team has provided ongoing operation management, and will continue to do so to ensure consistently high yields. BayWa r.e. recently became the largest independent service provider in Italy following its acquisition of Energy Systems Services (ESS).

The Lacedonia wind farm is BayWa r.e.’s latest sale in Italy. It follows the sale of two other wind farms in 2017, with a combined total capacity of nearly 30 MW.

Axel Veeser, Head of Wind Energy Projects for BayWa r.e., said: “Italy is an important and growing market for us, not just in wind but in all types of renewable energy. We have over 150 employees in the country, are developing new wind and solar projects as well as providing expert operation and management services.

“We bring expertise, creativity and a knowledge base that’s built on the experience of successfully developing over 2,000 MW of renewable energy projects and managing 3,000 MW of assets globally.”

BayWa r.e. has recently started construction on two additional wind projects in Italy with 70 MW capacity. Besides this, BayWa r.e. in Italy is also working on a number of wind and solar project developments and is a market leader in the PV component trading business, where it is one of the world’s largest wholesalers.