Germany-based energy company, innogy SE, has been granted final approval to acquire UK-based Terra Firma Capital Partners, the EverPower Wind Holdings’ U.S. onshore wind development business. Both companies signed the respective purchase agreement at the end of 2017, however, had to wait approval from the U.S. government’s Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) and pending consents of authorities on state level.
innogy has become the sole owner of more than 2 GW of under-development onshore wind projects in the U.S. The projects in various stages of development, are in eight states: Maine, Maryland, Montana, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Washington, and Wyoming.
With this acquisition, innogy became the sole owner of more than 2,000 MW of onshore wind projects in various development stages. The projects are located across eight states, which are attractive for renewables (Maine, Maryland, Montana, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Washington, and Wyoming). All parties have agreed to keep the purchase price confidential.
The pipeline includes three wind projects in late stage development: Cassadaga (126 MW), Baron Winds (270 MW) in the State of New York and Scioto Ridge in Ohio (200 MW). innogy plans to bring these projects online before the end of 2020. Scioto Ridge will be innogy’s first U.S. onshore wind farm targeted to start full construction in early 2019.
“With more than 20 development projects this pipeline serves as a strong foundation for innogy’s expansion into the U.S. onshore wind business,” said Andrew Young, CEO of Innogy Renewables U.S. “Together, with the experienced development team based in Pittsburgh, who have joined the innogy family, we will turn these project opportunities into successful operating renewable energy projects.”
With over 2,100 MW installed capacity in onshore wind, innogy is one of the major operators of renewables in Europe. In addition, the company’s development pipeline for renewables consists of more than 7,800 MW in total in on- and offshore wind as well as solar.
In combination with its new Pittsburgh office, Innogy Renewables US LLC’s platform, established in Chicago in 2016, now consists of a team of more than 40 colleagues.
Execution of the onshore wind pipeline will be done incrementally, according to innogy, with commercial assessment of every project as an investment opportunity under its hurdle rate framework. The company will review all options under various ownership and financing structures to optimize value for the company and its shareholders to implement growth in alignment with innogy’s leverage and financial stability targets.
innogy will also leverage its considerable experience in developing, designing, financing, constructing and operating renewables assets both independently, and together with project partners and investors to support its valuable growth strategy. In addition to onshore wind, offshore wind and solar are also part of innogy’s scope in the U.S. Recently, the company secured exclusive rights for solar development projects in the US with a total capacity of approx. 440 MW. Furthermore, innogy is active in the U.S. e-mobility market through its acquisition of leading company BTCPower earlier this month.
“We aim to grow our renewables activities worldwide. With the acquisition of EverPower’s excellent onshore wind pipeline, we have established innogy as a relevant renewables player in the US market, one of our key strategic growth areas,” said Hans Bünting, Vorstand Erneuerbare Energien der innogy SE. “Our strengthened team will now focus on execution of our first U.S. wind projects. After commissioning, our wind farms will supply hundreds of thousands of homes with green energy.”
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