French solar developer Sunmind, a subsidiary of construction firm VINCI Concessions, has acquired solar developer Helios Nordic Energy for US$73 million.
Helios has developed 1GW of solar projects in the Nordics and sold around 300MW of ready-to-build projects to investors. The company noted that it has an “extensive” pipeline of PV and battery energy storage (BESS) projects in development. Its executives will continue in their positions once the transaction is completed, which is expected to take place by June.
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“We are very proud of the journey we have made with Helios,” said Helios CEO Andreas Tunbjer. “Through determination and a very strong commitment from our team we have built trust among investors, and we have been one of the pioneers introducing a new energy production source at scale to the Nordic energy mix.”
VINCI noted that the deal would allow Sunmind to “enrich” its position in the renewable power sector. Sunmind has mostly invested in the small-scale space. It has commissioned Portugal’s first airport solar plant, with a capacity of 3MW, and boasts around 425MW of capacity under development in Europe. Much of this is made up by a 100MW PV project at Skavsta airport in Sweden, and the company hopes to benefit from Helios’ expertise in the region.
The Swedish solar sector has grown considerably in recent years, with Svensk Solenergi, the country’s solar association, reporting that around 4GW of capacity was in operation at the end of 2023. As much as 1.4GW of this was installed last year, and this rate of growth is expected to help Sweden meet the 6.6GW deployment target set in the most recent draft of its National Energy and Climate Plan (NECP).
