After acquiring a 422-megawatt project pipeline in Poland months ago, AES Wind Generation has added another 353 MW of future wind ventures in the country, proposing to invest $175 million for it.
AES Wind’s parent company AES Corporation signed a deal with Polish wind developer Jan Reichert to acquire 353 MW in potential projects.
The deal states that AES Wind Generation will hold a 51-percent stake in the future projects, which will climb to 95 percent when Jan Reichert completes certain targets.
Construction will start next year with an initial 158-MW target, where AES Wind will hold about $80 million in equity. The entire project will need about $175 million from AES before completion is expected by the end of 2014.
In April, AES Wind raised its Polish wind projects portfolio to 775 MW by acquiring 422 MW of wind company 3E’s projects.
“Increasing our presence in Poland’s wind market falls in line with our strategy to pursue high-growth renewable energy markets,” said Paul Hanrahan, president and chief executive of AES Wind.
To date, Poland has installed 725 MW of wind capacity which the country expects to reach 6,000 MW by 2020. With 90 percent of generation capacity already coming from thermal power, the country is pushing wind generation growth to achieve its renewable energy target of 10.4 percent this year and 15 percent by 2020.
“With 775 MW in our development pipeline, we are establishing a strong foothold in one of Europe’s most attractive markets for wind generation,” Mr. Hanrahan said. AES Wind is a wholly owned subsidiary of Virginia-based AES Corporation (NYSE:
AES), a global power company active in 29 countries. The company has 228 MW of wind capacity in operation across Europe and a global development pipeline of about 6,000 MW, one-third of which is located in Europe.