Lithuanian energy company Ignitis Group is entering the Latvian renewable energy market by acquiring three wind farms in early development stages.
The company’s management board concluded conditional agreements on the acquisition of the three Latvian companies developing the wind farm projects, which have a total capacity of 160MW.
Ignitis Group CEO Darius Maikšt?nas said: “Latvia to us is one of the markets of strategic importance, and the acquisition of these projects is the result of [our] strategy being implemented consistently.
“We have a target to expand [our] green generation portfolio to 4GW by 2030, [so] we will keep actively looking for development opportunities across all Baltic states, as well as Poland.”
Under the terms of the agreements, the project sellers will be responsible for developing the wind farm projects until the construction stage.
Following the receipt of construction permits, they will also divest shares in the projects to Ignitis Renewables.
Ignitis Renewables will ‘actively participate’ in the decision-making process regarding the three wind facilities.
Once the developers obtain construction permits, Ignitis Renewables will seek out contractors for wind turbine construction and monitor the performance of construction works.
Construction works on the three wind facilities are expected to begin in around 2024-25 and are estimated to be completed around 2025-27.
The total preliminary investment in the portfolio is estimated at €200m ($235m). The acquisition price will be no greater than 10% of this.
According to the agreements signed by Ignitis Group, the payment of the acquisition price is based on whether the projects pass certain development stages.
Upon their completion, the three wind facilities will operate under market conditions.
Last October, the Lithuanian government announced plans to build one of the world’s largest battery parks.
The battery park will be built by the end of this year with a €100m ($117.6m) investment. It will feature four 50MW batteries with a minimum capacity of 200MWh.
