ACS sells €636m of wind assets to Bridgepoint

Spanish developer ACS has sold 11 wind farms to funds managed by pan-European private equity firm Bridgepoint exactly one week after it announced the sale of nine similar assets to two renewable energy funds.

The transaction is valued at €636 million by ACS and will see Bridgepoint acquire “the largest independent platform of wind assets in Spain with 443 megawatts (MW) of installed capacity,” the private equity firm said in a separate statement. The wind farms are located in Castilla y León, an autonomous region to the north-west of Spain.

Wind energy covered 15 percent of the Spanish electricity market in 2010 and represented 80 percent of the country’s renewable energy capacity, according to Bridgepoint. The private equity firm said Spain imports 80 percent of its energy needs.

Bridgepoint is no stranger to the Spanish wind sector, having previously invested in local wind developer CESA in 2004. CESA was subsequently acquired in 2006 by Spanish infrastructure group Acciona for €1.47 billion, leading Bridgepoint to exit the Spanish wind market.

ACS has been busy divesting its 1,757-MW renewable energy portfolio, the majority of which is comprised of wind assets across Spain. Last week, ACS sold nine wind farms for €223 million to Canepa Green Energy Fund I and II, two renewable energy funds managed by Canepa Asset Management. The assets had a total capacity of close to 215 MW.

And in early July, ACS agreed to sell 90 percent of its stake in two Andalucian thermosolar plants to infrastructure funds managed by RREEF and Antin Infrastructure Partners. The developer also divested five wind farms with a total capacity of 95 MW to Spanish energy operator Gas Natural Fenosa for €72.4 million, according to a Gas Natural statement.

The developer still needs to sell around 1,000 MW worth of assets, including some five solar plants.