Aquila European Renewables Income Fund the London-listed investment company advised by Aquila Capital Investment has acquired its first assets since its Initial Public Offering (IPO) on the London Stock Exchange in May 2019.
Aquila European raised €154.3m through its initial public offering at the end of May, though initially it was looking to raise €300m.
The fund acquired 17.99% of the share capital of Aguia Enlica Lbased in Portugal, and 100% of the shares in Danish company Holmen Wind Park II Aps this month followed by the acquisition of a 26% stake in Midfjellet Vindkraft, an operating wind farm in Norway.
Aguia Enlica is a holding company whose directly and indirectly wholly owned subsidiaries hold and operate a portfolio of twenty-one operational small hydropower plants with a capacity of around 103 MW and an expected total annual production of approximately 312 GWh in northern and central Portugal. At present, approximately 75% of production is covered by a long-term feed-in tariff (FiT), which gradually expires for the individual power plants.
The investment was part of the enhanced pipeline, as disclosed in the prospectus dated 10 May 2019 and provides the Company with participation in an operational power plant portfolio with a long operating history. The capital committed in the acquisition amounts to c. 10,8% of the proceeds raised in the Company`s recent IPO.
Nordic wind investments
Holmen II is an onshore wind farm located on the west coast of Denmark with 18 MW of installed capacity. The investment comprises five Vestas V126 turbines, of 3.60 MW each, in a location with excellent wind resources, which yields a capacity factor of 43% and a P50 annual production of c. 68.54 GWh.
The plant benefits from a Danish Premium tariff – the feed-in premium is structured as a contract for Difference – for a fixed volume of production, which will last until 2025. Part of the enhanced pipeline, the consideration amounts to c. 15.5% of the proceeds raised.
The Midfjellet Vindkraft wind farm in Norway is being built in three phases, with the first two comprising 44 N100 and N90 wind turbines, which contributes 2.5 megawatts each, and have been operational since 2013. A third expansion phase of 40 megawatts started operations in August with 11 N117 turbines, each contributing 3.6 megawatts.
