Northland enters booming Spanish market buying large wind and solar fleet

Northland Power has closed an agreement to enter the booming Spanish renewables market with a splash, by buying a 540MW portfolio of already operating wind and solar power plants.

The Canadian utility utility will pay €345m ($413m) in cash to unnamed sellers, and assume another €716m in debt, upon closing of the acquisition of 33 operating assets – 424MW in onshore wind farms, 66MW in solar PV, and 50MW in concentrated solar power (CSP).

The purchase will place Northland as one of the top 10 renewable power operators in Spain, which targets to source 70% of its electricity from renewables by 2030 and is expected to auction off a further 16.5GW in solar and onshore wind capacity over the next five years.

“Today's announcement further demonstrates Northland's continued growth and leadership in renewable energy and establishes Northland as a top player in one of Europe’s most attractive markets over the next decade for renewables, storage and hydrogen,” said chief executive Mike Crawley.

“Through this acquisition we will also establish a European asset management platform that can support entry into other attractive European onshore renewables markets.”

The deal is expected to close in the third quarter of this year, subject to regulatory approvals.

Spain has one of Europe’s most active corporate offtake markets, an attractive merchant power market, and also announced a 2030 target for 4GW of green hydrogen (produced via electrolysis from renewables), and 20GW of power storage.

“This transaction is consistent with our strategy and positions Northland for further growth and diversification, while providing us with near-term cash flow,” Crawley added.

The acquisition will boost Northland’s European operating power generation portfolio to 1.4GW, from 894MW in net installed capacity. Most of that is in offshore wind.