Swiss-based energy company MET Group has acquired a 100 per cent stake in a 60-megawatt (MW) wind park in Bulgaria, after signing a share purchase agreement with Spanish Grupo Enhol.
With this acquisition, MET will expand its operating wind portfolio in Bulgaria to 102 MW. The transaction is an important step in achieving MET’s renewables growth targets in the CEE region of 500 MW in operation by 2023.
MET Group signed the share purchase agreement with Grupo Enhol, a Spanish family-owned company focusing on renewable energy. The closing of the transaction is expected to take place in the third quarter of 2021.
The 60 MW Suvorovo Wind Park is located in Western Bulgaria, along the Black Sea coastline. It represents 8,5 per cent of the total installed wind capacity in Bulgaria and consists of 30 units of Gamesa G90 wind turbines, 2 MW capacity each. The wind farm, operating since 2012, produces approximately 120 gigawatts-hour (GWh) of electricity per year, supplying power equivalent to the consumption of around 38,000 households.
MET Group considers the growth in renewable power generation in the CEE region as a core part of its business strategy. This transaction is expected to provide MET with a strong local renewables footprint in Bulgaria following the acquisition of the 42 MW Black Sea Wind Park earlier this year.
“This is our second successful renewable asset acquisition in Bulgaria as part of our CEE renewables growth strategy of reaching 500 MW in operation by 2023,” commented Benjamin Lakatos, CEO of MET Group.
“We believe that our integrated approach to business in our core markets will add additional value to support the energy transition towards renewables,” underlined Mr Lakatos.
As an integrated European energy company, headquartered in Switzerland, MET Group is present in 14 countries through subsidiaries, 25 national gas markets and 22 international trading hubs.
The energy company will pursue onshore wind and solar PV investments in Central and Eastern European countries in a move designed to build on its existing operations in the region and exploit synergies between natural gas and renewables.
“The strategy is to enter markets where we already have subsidiaries,” MET Renewables chief executive Christian Hürlimann said recently in an interview.
