The ground rent tax settlement that came before Christmas was crucial to the deal for both the buyer and seller of the Tellenes and Guleslettene wind farms this week, according to Eviny Ragnhild CEO Janbu Fresvik.
On Tuesday this week, Eveny announced that the company has purchased the Tellenes and Guleslettene wind power plants from international investment firm Blackrock.
Thus, Black Rock has run out of Norwegian wind power.
The two parties agreed on a company value of €537.5 million for the two wind farms, i.e. approximately NOK 6.1 billion.
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On Thursday, BlackRock CEO Frederic Norrell attended Pareto Securities' annual renewable energy conference.
On stage during a panel discussion, Norrell said BlackRock is an “infrastructure investor.” If it was wind they were going to invest in, it would have to be “a fairly good wind project”, with grid connectivity – “which is a challenge everywhere, really” – and “stable political framework conditions”.
– We try to stay in the countries in which we invest, so in this context we like stability and predictability, said Norrell.
Norell will not comment further on the sale of wind power plants to E24.
He says BlackRock does not comment in detail on individual investments.
– Profitable investment
Eviny CEO Ragnhild Janbu Fresvik on Thursday tells E24 that they would not have done the deal if there had not been a broad political settlement behind the ground rent tax.
– I think it was important for both the seller and the buyer, says Vriesvik.
It says both parties have calculated the impact of the ground rent tax and arrived at the same estimated value for it.
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– We see this as a profitable investment for us. This also meant that we looked at the possibilities of developing these parks,” says Vriesvik.
Blackrock highlighted this when the deal was announced this week. Announcing the sale on Tuesday, Blackrock's Keith Mangan said it was important for the company to find a suitable owner who would continue to develop and operate the wind farms, and they were pleased it was Eviny.
Facilities will be developed
Fresvik believes Eviny's starting point as an owner is slightly different from Blackrock's.
– While Blackrock, which manages the pension funds, will be primarily concerned with securing cash flow, we, as an industrial owner, will want to unlock cash flow and develop the parks, as well as play a little more on strength than on balance and say that the energy we have In the field of hydroelectric energy.
Vriesvik points out that natural interventions have already taken place, that the foundations are in place and construction methods are in place. Therefore, it should be possible to apply for a new license to increase capacity when the life of the current facilities ends, Ifeanyi believes.
– We calculated the life span of these wind farms at about 30 years, says Vriesvik.
The Guleslettene wind farm is located in the municipalities of Bremanger and Kien, while the Tellenes wind farm is located in the Rogaland municipalities of Lund and Sokendal.
Today, the combined production from the two wind farms is equivalent to the electricity consumption of about 75,000 households.
Sees 'unique opportunities'
On stage Thursday, Norell also said he believes the Nordic countries have “a lot of interesting things happening with industrial expansion.”
– In the next few years, it will be critical to see whether we get this done, because of some of the challenges we see here. But I think this is a truly exceptional opportunity, he says.
Norell believes there will be “unique opportunities in the Nordics in the next five to 10 years” in batteries, hydrogen and carbon capture and storage, and says BlackRock as an investor is “following closely”.
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