Germany-based independent power producer Encavis acquired a 55 MW ready-to-build solar project in Spain from Hive Energy, a UK-based renewable energy developer.
Land and grid connections for the project have already been secured. Construction works are planned to begin shortly and will be handled by Ethical Power, a company under Hive Group. Hive developed the project, and the company will remain involved until completion.
“With this acquisition, we will not only add further production capacity to our European Renewable Energy portfolio in line with our ‘Fast Forward 2025’ goals but also further strengthen our already significant business in Spain by teaming up with Hive Energy and its strong presence in the Spanish market,” explained Mario Schirru, CIO cum COO of Encavis. “The next step will be to acquire additional solar parks in Spain to sign an attractive joint power purchase agreement,” he added.
Giles Redpath, CEO of Hive Energy, also welcomed the cooperation, “This is the first deal Hive has completed with Encavis, and we are extremely happy with the ease of the process and to be working with another like-minded company. The Spanish team is doing a fantastic job developing and progressing their projects. This is our fourth project completion in the country this year alone, and Spain is one of our leading countries for Renewable Energy development.”
In August, Encavis acquired three solar projects of 48 MW in the Netherlands from BayWa. The projects located in Dokkum (14 MW), Lemsterhoek (31 MW), and Hoogengraven (3 MW) will benefit from the Dutch SDE+ feed-in tariff scheme for the first 15 years.
Encavis also acquired 26 MW of Chiltern Renewables Hockliffe solar project in the UK from Industria Brand Energy. The solar project in Hockliffe (around 40 miles from London) is scheduled to go online in the first half of 2023.
According to Mercom’s 9M and Q3 Solar Funding and M&A Report, in the first nine months of 2022, there were 207 project acquisitions totaling 52.1 GW, compared to 200 project acquisitions totaling 55.5 GW in the same period of last year.
