Locogen Support Eurowind With First UK Wind Farm Acquisition

Locogen are thrilled to have supported Eurowind Energy A/W (EWE) – a Danish developer – with their first wind farm acquisition in the UK. 

Eurowind Energy are a leading developer and operator of solar PV and wind turbine projects in Denmark, Germany, Poland, Romania, Sweden, Bulgaria, Southern Europe and now the UK. They have an impressive portfolio of approximately 1,300MW which annually produces approximately 800 million kWh – enough to power 200,000 households’ annual electricity consumption. They are also the largest TCM provider of onshore wind turbine projects on behalf of Danish wind turbine owners in Denmark and Germany. 

Equipped with a strong operating portfolio across Europe, Eurowind were keen to enter the UK market. As part of their market entry strategy, they were looking to purchase operational projects, pre-construction projects and to develop new greenfield opportunities in the UK. With Locogen’s help, Eurowind secured the exclusivity to purchase a consented (pre-construction) 8 turbine wind farm in the Scottish Borders. The wind farm, known as Howpark, was developed by Livos Energy – a London based wind and solar developer – who obtained planning consent, a grid connection agreement and land rights with the landowners for the turbines in April 2018. Now in 2020, Eurowind were keen to purchase the SPV that held all the rights from Livos. 

Locogen worked with Eurowind’s legal team (Anderson Strathern) to deliver the diligence works. Locogen undertook an extensive scope of work for this transaction including: the technical review of permits and conditions, an assessment of the impacts of a proposed change in the candidate turbine model, environmental constraints, grid connection, land rights, transport constraints, project design, energy yield, construction and O&M scope and costs, and a project financial model. This rigorous review gave light to more cost-effective grid connection routes, active network management requirements from The National Grid, and additional support with amendments to property plans. Resulting in the client having a deeper understanding of operational considerations and potential cost savings at the outset of the project. 

Having provided a robust risk assessment, smooth communication and a continuous identification of risk items, Locogen and Eurowind discussed and agreed efficient mitigation measures, allowing the technical risk profile of the project to reach an acceptable level for Eurowind, which enabled the project to reach close within the agreed transaction timelines. 

Ian McLean, Associate Director and lead on the Eurowind project, says: “We were delighted to work on this challenging development sale. The project had some unique obstacles which we were very happy to overcome for our client, enabling the sale to proceed. It has been fascinating to assess how new projects can be delivered within a subsidy free environment and we look forward to seeing this project through to its construction and commissioning phase to meet the planned operational delivery date of March 2021”.

Meanwhile, Eurowind’s Managing Director, Alan Powell shared his gratitude by saying: “We’ve really appreciated Locogen’s expert and timely due diligence support in getting this project secured. Their feedback was clear and their depth of experience allowed for a pro-active approach on ways to mitigate identified risks”. 

Locogen’s work with Eurowind is led by our Associate Director Ian McLean and supported by a broader project team including: Jack ByresDuncan StevenAmy Crum and Stuart MacAleese. 

You can find out more about our technical advisory services here.

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