BayWa r.e. sells 30.7MW Dutch project to asset manager
26 April: BayWa r.e. has found an asset management buyer for a 30.7MW PV project it developed in Emmen, a Dutch municipality near the border with Germany.
The sale to Hamburg-based CEE Group will see the buyer run the plant commercially, while BayWa will retain responsibilities as the technical operator.
For BayWa, the Dutch divestment comes little over one year after it snapped up a 2GW solar pipeline in the country.
The seller – solar specialist GroenLeven Group – agreed to keep a 30% holding of the portfolio after the takeover of March 2018, staying on board via a joint venture.
Kazakh project raises US$16.7m from EBRD, GCF
26 April: China’s Universal Energy has secured a multi-million loan from development financiers to build a 30MW solar plant in Kazakhstan.
The project in Zhangiz-tobe, to the east of the Asian republic, will be supported via funding from the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (US$ 11.7 million) and the UN’s Green Climate Fund (US$5 million).
The deal was signed last week at a Beijing summit to discuss China’s Belt and Road scheme, an initiative meant to channel trillions to infrastructure across over 150 countries.
Engie in fresh coal sale as part of renewable refocus
26 April: Engie has pressed ahead with a series of fossil fuel divestments, selling a 2.34GW German and Dutch coal portfolio while it works to deliver PV projects worldwide.
Pending regulatory approval, the developer’s sale of a coal plant in Rotterdam and a further three in Germany will slash its consolidated net debt by some €200 million.
The transaction, said Engie CEO Isabella Kocher, comes as part of efforts to become a “leader” of the transition to carbon neutrality.
Having cut its coal portfolio by 75% in three years, the firm is working on a 746MW PV pipeline in Mexico, a 60MW duo in Senegal and mini-grids in Myanmar, among other locations.