Statkraft buys 350MW onshore wind portfolio in Germany and France

Norwegian energy firm Statkraft has acquired the wind power assets of German renewables operator Breeze Three Energy in Germany and France, adding nearly 350MW of onshore wind capacity to its portfolio. The value of the transaction is undisclosed.

The deal gives Statkraft, already Europe’s largest renewables generator, 39 wind farms in Germany with a combined capacity of 311MW and four in France with a combined capacity of 35MW.

State-owned Statkraft aims to ramp up as a wind and solar power developer, and is targeting “a development rate of 2.5-3GW per year towards 2025”, according to its executive vice president for European wind and solar power, Birgitte Ringstad Vartdal. It is already a major European solar developer, having bought Solarcentury in 2020.

The 39 newly acquired wind farms in Germany total 311MW in capacity from 187 turbines, producing an annual yield of 463GWh, and are spread across nine of Germany’s 16 federal states. Statkraft sees Germany as “the largest renewables market in Europe in terms of installed capacity, expected growth and repowering potential”.

In April it announced plans to develop the Rappenhagen wind farm in the state of Hesse in western central Germany, due online in 2025. The firm already has interests in 2,390MW of gas-fired generation capacity in Germany across five facilities, four of which it owns outright and one in which it has a share.

In France, the four newly acquired wind farms total 35MW from 16 turbines, generating around 60GWh a year. They are located in Normandy, in north-west France, in Nouvelle-Aquitaine, in south-west France, and in Pays de la Loire, in western France. 

Statkraft explained that the deal will allow it to further grow its asset portfolio and existing business in France. The firm entered the French market in 2009, initially focusing on hydropower but then moving into solar and wind power. Statkraft stated that many of France’s hydropower concessions will be put out to tender in 2030 and it is positioning itself to obtain hydropower licences.