Wind Energy Holding set to take over Australia’s CWP Renewables
WIND ENERGY Holding Co (WEH), majority-owned by Thailand’s KPN Group, has agreed to acquire CWP Renewables, a renewable-energy developer and asset manager in Australia, from Continental Wind Partners and the Wind Prospect Group.
WEH will also purchase 50 per cent of CWP’s Australian business, including 800 megawatts in assets on which construction will start this year.
These assets will continue to be developed by CWP Renewables, which will be integrated with the WEH team to deliver and manage further projects across Asia.
The acquisition marks WEH’s first international investment as it strives to become one of the world’s leading renewable-energy companies over the next decade. Combining WEH’s existing capabilities with CWP’s expertise and talent is expected to strengthen the Thai company, enabling it to accelerate its global growth, as well as the development of its projects in Thailand and Australia.
WEH says CWP has an outstanding global track record of renewable-energy development, with more than two decades of experience in developing and managing 4,200MW of installed capacity across 20 countries.
Since entering the Australian market in 2007, it has successfully developed the 113MW Boco Rock Wind Farm in 2014 and has established a project-development plan totalling more than 800MW.
One of these pending projects is the 260MW Sapphire Wind Farm, which achieved state planning approval in 2013 and federal planning approval in 2014, and it was recently announced as the fifth and final winner of the Australian Capital Territory government’s large-scale wind-power reverse auction.
In addition to its development activities, CWP manages more than 220MW of wind-power assets across two wind farms in Australia.
Mark Crandall, chairman of the executive board at Continental Wind Partners, said: “Since founding Continental Wind Partners in 2007, we have successfully developed and operated a number of wind farms across Eastern Europe and Australia. Given WEH’s strong track record and capabilities, it is an ideal partner to develop what is an exceptionally attractive and exciting Australian [enterprise].”
Emma Collins, chief executive officer of Wind Energy Holding Co, added: “We are very excited with the investment in CWP – it is extremely complementary to our business and will significantly strengthen our development and asset-management capabilities.
“The Australian market offers tremendous potential over the long term and this is the opportune time to invest in the country, with increasing government support and positive moves around certificate pricing promoting the growth of the renewable industry. I look forward to working closely with CWP’s management team as we seek to achieve our global aspirations.”
Nop Narongdej, WEH chairman of the board, said: “Following KPN Group’s purchase of a majority shareholding in WEH, one of our core goals was to leverage and expand from our base in Thailand into attractive renewables markets, both in the region and globally.
“The investment into CWP and its development [plans] is the first of what we expect will be a number of global initiatives for the company, as we move into the next phase of our international growth plans.”
