Engie takes full control of solar and wind unit Compagnie du Vent

French multinational electric utility Engie continues to expand its presence in the renewable energy sector. The company announced that it has now taken full control of its solar and wind unit Compagnie du Vent, of which it already owned 59%, through the acquisition of the remaining 41% stake from France-based holding company Soper. Financial details of the deal have not been provided. The French group had made its first equity investment in the company in 2007.

According to Engie, the unit has so far developed wind and solar projects totaling 1.73 GW and 522 MW, respectively. Furthermore, Compagnie du Vent owns and operates wind and PV power assets with a combined capacity of 423 MW and 88 MW respectively. Last year, the company invested approximately €88 million in new wind and solar projects.

Engie added that it is has set a target of 3 GW in wind energy and approximately 2.2 GW in solar PV by 2021.

The company has begun to expand in the renewable energy sector, particularly over the past two years. In May 2016, it acquired 80% of Green Charge Networks (Green Charge), a battery storage company based in California. In July 2015, Engie acquired a 95% stake in French solar developer Solairedirect for $222 million. In mid-March of this year, Bloomberg reported that Engie was planning to acquire German renewable energy company Innogy, a unit of Germany’s power provider RWE. Innogy completed the acquisition of German PV power and storage specialist Belectric in January 2017. Belectric’s global portfolio consists of 280 utility-scale solar plants and rooftop arrays, amounting to more than 1.5 GW of installed solar capacity.

Engie is currently also active in the PV sector through its other subsidiaries Engie Green and La Compagnie Nationale du Rhône (CNR).