Germany’s Commerz Real to Acquire New Wind Farm in Finland

Commerz Real, the German firm, has made further progress in expanding the European portfolio of its impact fund Klimavest and has acquired a new wind farm in Finland.

The asset has a nominal output of 39.9 MW and was sold turnkey by the company Energiequelle. It is already the second successful transaction with the international project developer, which has a history of more than 1.5 GW of project volume.

This is Commerz Real’s third wind power investment on the Gulf of Bothnia after a purchase in the municipality of Malaahti near the city of Vaasa in December 2022 and a transaction in the municipality of Kannus in summer 2021.

Yves-Maurice Radwan, Head of Green Deal Infrastructure at Commerz Real, said that Finland is extremely attractive as a location for wind energy investments. Based on the positive experiences with the local conditions and with Energiequelle as the developer, we were able to add another profitable asset to the Klimavest fund portfolio.

The wind farm comprises a total of seven individual turbines with a height of 126.5 meters. The connection to the grid took place in 2022. The ongoing full maintenance is the responsibility of the well-known manufacturer Nordex in the long term. The developer and seller Energiequelle is responsible for the technical and commercial management of the park.

The wind farm is in the western Finnish region of Pohjois-Pohjanmaa, in the municipality of Kalajoki, approximately 450 km north-west of Helsinki.

It may be recalled that Commerz Real, acting on behalf of its impact real assets focused fund Klimavest, has bought an 18MW wind farm in Tout Vent in the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region western France from BayWa re in 2021.

Timo Werner, a fund manager for Klimavest at Commerz Real, said that Finland is a stable and attractive market for wind power investments.

“With this transaction we have been able to move ahead with the diversification of Klimavest, and in line with the defined strategy we are investing the pleasingly high inflow of funds from investors in assets which generate high earnings,” he said.

He continued: “In the future we will actively examine the possibility of investments in Finland and the neighbouring Scandinavian countries. In this respect we will consciously set store by a mix of long-term power purchase agreements with companies with strong credit ratings and a free merchant approach with the marketing of the generated electricity on energy exchanges.”

Klimavest, is Germany’s first impact fund for private investors which focuses on real assets. Klimavest was launched in November 2020. The fund’s portfolio includes wind farms in Germany and Sweden and a solar farm in Spain.

Wind Power in Finland

Finland has a single offshore wind farm, the 44 MW Tahkoluoto offshore wind farm, owned by Suomen Hyötytuuli. It is located near Pori, with an initial pilot turbine constructed in 2010 and the other ten turbines in 2017. An extension with a further forty turbines is planned.

In fact, wind power in Finland has been the fastest growing source of electricity in recent years. In 2022, Finland covered 14.1% of the yearly electricity demand with wind power production, which was 16.7% of the domestic production.

Wind capacity was up 76% from the previous year and wind production up 41%. This compares to an average wind power share of 16% in the EU and 17% in the whole of Europe.

Wind power is one of the most popular energy resources among the Finnish public. In 2022, 82% of respondents wanted more wind power, which was second only to solar with 90%.

About Commerz Real

Commerz Real, is a company of the Commerzbank Group and located in in Wiesbaden and Düsseldorf as well as in seventeen other branches in Germany and abroad, with around eight hundred employees committed to making material assets available as investments and financing them.

The range of funds includes the open-ended real estate fund Hausinvest, the first private investor impact fund with a focus on tangible assets, klimaVest, institutional investment products and entrepreneurial participations under the CFB Invest brand with tangible asset investments in the main segments of renewable energies and real estate.