• GE Renewable Energy secures another win for its Cypress platform in the Nordics, and will supply 16 of its 5.5 MW-158 Cypress turbines to the Puskakorpi wind farm
• Foresight Energy Infrastructure Partners acquires the project from co-development partners Smart Windpower, Mincovest and GE Renewable Energy
• Societe Generale selected by GE Energy Financial Services to provide long-term project finance debt
• Corporate Power Purchase Agreement secured with a global technology provider as offtaker

Click here to view the announcement as a PDF.

Paris, FRANCE, May 26, 2021 – GE announced today that it will supply 16 of its 5.5 MW-158 Cypress turbines, its largest onshore wind turbine in the field, for the 88 MW Puskakorpi wind farm (the “Project”) in Finland along with a 30-year Full Services Agreement (FSA).

 

The Project was co-developed by Smart Windpower Oy, Mincovest Oy and GE Renewable Energy and acquired by Foresight Energy Infrastructure Partners (“FEIP”), a Luxembourg Special Limited Partnership for which Foresight Group LLP acts as Portfolio Manager. The Project is Foresight’s first onshore wind investment in Finland and first partnership with GE’s onshore wind technology.

 

The raising of the long-term project finance debt and the process of sourcing an investor to acquire the Project was supported by GE Energy Financial Services (“GE EFS”). Societe Generale, a leading bank in the field of renewables financing, is the sole lender. Reaching financial close with committed equity and debt grants the Project notice to proceed (NTP) to commence construction.

 

Located in the municipality of Pyhäjoki, in the Northern Ostrobothnia region of western Finland, the 88 MW wind farm will generate enough renewable energy to power the equivalent of 55,000 households in Finland. It will play a significant role in supporting the country’s goal of meeting 50% of its energy end-consumption from renewable energy sources by 2030.

 

Commercial operations of the Project is expected to commence in late 2022 with the first onshore wind turbine installation expected to commence early 2022. Other key construction contracts will be executed by Suvic Oy, as the civil and electrical balance of plant contractor, and Ramboll as the Project’s construction manager.  Both companies are experienced in the Finnish market.

 

As part of the transaction, GE Renewable Energy’s dedicated PPA team also secured a corporate power purchase agreement (PPA) with a global technology provider as the offtaker for the Project.

 

Sheri Hickok, CEO, Onshore Wind International, GE Renewable Energy, said: “With this deal, we now have more than 1.5 GW of committed capacity in the Nordic market utilising our Cypress platform. By partnering with local co-developers on the Puskakorpi wind farm, offtaker, Societe Generale and Foresight, GE is proud to contribute to Finland’s renewable energy goals. This Project demonstrates GE’s unique capability to work across the value chain in onshore wind, complementing customer needs and goals, with a broad skill set of project development, value engineering, securing offtake solutions, access to capital markets, and turbine application.”

 

Kalle Riihikoski, CEO, Smart Windpower Oy, said: “We appreciated collaborating with GE throughout the development of our Puskakorpi project over the last four years. Thanks to GE’s technical, commercial and financial expertise, we were able to successfully bring the Project all the way to financial close with a PPA and senior debt, and to attract an excellent new owner in Foresight. GE worked well with us at every stage and we look forward to our future projects together.”

 

Richard Thompson, Partner, Foresight Group, said: “We are delighted to add a fourth asset to the growing FEIP portfolio. This investment is our first in Finland and underlines our appetite for energy infrastructure projects that contribute to the transition to a low carbon economy across Europe. As with all investments in the FEIP portfolio, Puskakorpi wind farm has been externally validated as being compliant with the EU Taxonomy, acting as a further endorsement of the Project’s contribution to the global sustainability agenda.”

 

Jérôme Deflesselles, Co-Head of EMEA Power Advisory & Project Finance, Societe Generale, said: “Societe Generale is a long-standing player in renewable energy both in financing and advisory and this new transaction will contribute to our commitment to mobilize up to EUR20bn for the renewables sector by 2023.  Following the path of the US, the emergence of corporate PPA based deals in Europe is supported by Societe Generale, who is active in many jurisdictions to design offtakers acceptable frameworks with our clients.’’

 

Yann Le Bot, Director, Power Advisory & Project Finance, Societe Generale, said:  “We are delighted to have arranged and delivered this financing for some of our key clients in a challenging environment and timeline, enabling a smooth start of construction. This transaction, reinforcing our presence in the region, has been designed to deliver an optimized financing solution in a merchant power environment backed by a corporate PPA.”

 

GE’s Cypress onshore wind platform enables significant Annual Energy Production improvements with low levelized cost of energy, increased efficiency in service ability, improved logistics and siting potential, and ultimately more value for customers. The platform includes power ratings between 4.8 and 6.1 MW, with 158 and 164-meter rotor diameters and various hub heights. It is equipped with both single piece and jointed blade variants, improving logistics and offering increased output and more siting options in locations that were previously inaccessible.

 

-ENDS-

 

Notes to Editors:

About GE Renewable Energy

GE Renewable Energy is a $15.7 billion business which combines one of the broadest portfolios in the renewable energy industry to provide end-to-end solutions for our customers demanding reliable and affordable green power. Combining onshore and offshore wind, blades, hydro, storage, utility-scale solar, and grid solutions as well as hybrid renewables and digital services offerings, GE Renewable Energy has installed more than 400+ gigawatts of clean renewable energy and equipped more than 90 percent of utilities worldwide with its grid solutions. With nearly 40,000 employees present in more than 80 countries, GE Renewable Energy creates value for customers seeking to power the world with affordable, reliable and sustainable green electrons.

Follow us at http://www.ge.com/renewableenergy, on http://www.linkedin.com/company/gerenewableenergy, or on http://www.twitter.com/GErenewables

 

About GE Energy Financial Services

A strategic GE Capital business, GE Energy Financial Services is a global energy investor with 35+ years managing assets through multiple energy cycles. Drawing on its technical know-how, financial strength and strong risk management, GE Energy Financial Services invests in and provides capital solutions for long-lived and capital-intensive projects and companies that help meet the world’s energy needs. It is headquartered in Connecticut with regional hubs in London, Houston,

 

 

 

Washington D.C. and Singapore. For more information, visit www.geenergyfinancialservices.com and follow us on Twitter @GEEnergyFinServ.

 

About Smart Windpower Oy   

Smart Windpower Oy is a Finnish company located in Ylöjärvi and the founders have been developing successfully wind power projects since year 2009. The strategy of the company is to develop, build and produce wind energy in excellent wind condition areas in Finland. The company’s developed portfolio includes 150MW of ready or under construction projects and the current development portfolio includes about 650MW onshore wind power. The ethical values and principals of the company consist of community and social responsibility. Following these guidelines, the company has set up subsidiary companies where these projects are located.

 

About Mincovest Oy

Holding company established in 2014 focusing on renewable energy and wood-based biomass recycling initiatives, applications and services.

 

About Societe Generale

Active in the real economy for over 150 years, with a solid position in Europe and connected to the rest of the world, Societe Generale has over 133,000 members of staff in 61 countries and supports on a daily basis 30 million individual clients, businesses and institutional investors around the world by offering a wide range of advisory services and tailored financial solutions. The Group is built on three complementary core businesses:

• French Retail Banking which encompasses the Societe Generale, Credit du Nord and Boursorama brands. Each offers a full range of financial services with omnichannel products at the cutting edge of digital innovation;
• International Retail Banking, Insurance and Financial Services to Corporates, with networks in Africa, Russia, Central and Eastern Europe and specialised businesses that are leaders in their markets;
• Global Banking and Investor Solutions, which offers recognised expertise, key international locations and integrated solutions.

 

Societe Generale is included in the principal socially responsible investment indices: DJSI (World and Europe), FTSE4Good (Global and Europe), Bloomberg Gender-Equality Index, Refinitiv Diversity

and Inclusion Index, Euronext Vigeo (Europe and Eurozone), STOXX Global ESG Leaders indexes, and the MSCI Low Carbon Leaders Index (World and Europe). For more information, you can follow us on Twitter @societegenerale or visit our website www.societegenerale.com.

 

About Foresight Group LLP (“Foresight”)

Foresight is a listed infrastructure and private equity investment manager which has been managing funds on behalf of institutions and retail clients for more than 35 years. Foresight has over £7.2 billion of assets under management across a number of funds on behalf of institutional and retail investors. Funds managed by Foresight include the ownership of 162 solar projects around the World, 31 onshore wind projects, 43 bioenergy and waste facilities in the UK and Europe and 26 reserve power assets. Foresight also invests in the wider infrastructure sector including hydro, battery storage and waste management and wastewater treatment projects. Together its projects have a potential generating capacity of over 2.7 GW, enough clean renewable electricity to power more than one million UK homes every year. Foresight is headquartered in Guernsey with its principal office in London and international offices in Luxembourg, Rome, Madrid and Sydney.

www.foresightgroup.eu

 

 

 

 

 

For media inquiries, please contact:

 

Antoine Balas

GE Renewable Energy

+33 (6) 89694110

antoine.balas@ge.com

Arti Mohan

GE Energy Financial Services

+44 (0) 7468 351586

arti.mohan@ge.com

 

Robert Woolley

Foresight Group

+44 (0) 7557 885 044

RWoolley@ForesightGroup.eu

 

Thomas Alexandre

Societe Generale

+33 (0)142133437

thomas.alexandre@socgen.com