Two strategic Euro solar deals rumored

From pv magazine Spain and pv magazine Germany.

Chinese state-owned power company Three Gorges New Energy Co is rumored by business news service Bloomberg to be the favored candidate to acquire a 500 MW solar project portfolio in Spain owned by Canadian-U.S.-controlled, and Madrid-based, developer X-Elio.

Bloomberg says Three Gorges – which owns 24% of Portuguese utility EDP – is vying with state-owned peer Shanghai Electric Power Co to acquire the €500-600 million portfolio after X-Elio ruled out other potential buyers, including Spanish utility Iberdrola.

X-Elio, which reportedly owns 41 solar plants in a dozen countries, is controlled by Canadian investor Brookfield Renewable Partners LP and U.S. private equity house KKR & Co.

ib vogt

Elsewhere in Europe, Reuters has reported German developer ib vogt has been up for sale since last month. The developer has not yet responded to pv magazine’s attempt to firm up the claim, or confirmed bids of €200-500 million will be lodged for the business from next week.

The field of potential investment fund suitors, according to Reuters, includes Sweden’s EQT, France’s Ardian, insurer Swiss Life and compatriot private equity firm Partners Group as well as Germany’s DWS and Canadian pension fund OMERS.

Berlin-based ib vogt claims to have a 5 GW solar project pipeline and has constructed 1.15 GW of generation capacity, including three solar parks with a total capacity of 166.5 MW in Egypt last year.

This article was amended on 23/07/20 to indicate in the sub-header China Three Gorges is reportedly set to offer up to €600 million for the X-Elio portfolio, not €600 billion, as previously stated.