Ampere Equity Fund and INEO partners to finance and construct a roof integrated solar PV portfolio in South-Western France
06-08-2010 | Zeist
INEO (full subsidiary of GDF-SUEZ) and Dutch Ampere Equity Fund (managed by Triodos Investment Management) today announced the closing of an agreement whereby Ampere Equity Fund acquired an 85% stake of a 4.5 MW roof integrated solar PV portfolio in South-Western France. The portfolio is developed by INEO and consists of 46 individual agricultural hangars. The French company INEO will retain the remaining 15%. The parties have agreed not to disclose the final purchase price. Concurrently to this transaction, a syndicate of French Banks consisting of Credit Coopératif and OSEO made available a senior debt package.
Each of the identical hangars, for which construction has started recently, will provide each individual farmer with extra sought after storage capacity (840 square meters). The hangars and associated roof integrated PV structures were developed by INEO to a very high standard, exclusively with European components. Entry into service of the first hangars is expected for early 2011 with the final hangars connected to the electricity grid by early 2012. Both INEO and Ampere Equity Fund have expressed the benefit of collaborating on such a project.
Guy Lacroix, chairman and chief executive officer INEO commented: “These hangars were developed for and with the agricultural world while respecting the constraints of the photovoltaic power stations, which in fact a product with social and ecological purpose. So it is quite naturally that we approached Ampere Equity Fund to finance the project. This ethical fund indeed shares the same vision of sustainable development as INEO.”
Joris van der Geest, Fund Manager Ampere Equity Fund, added: “Ampere Equity Fund is fully dedicated to investments in renewable energy projects in Western Europe. The INEO building integrated solar PV project is our first solar PV investment in France and builds on the acquisition of solar and wind assets in Europe. We believe there are more opportunities to invest in other high quality projects in the future. It fits well with our strategy to cooperate with strong project developers and create long term partnerships with them. It’s also a solid basis for further investments with INEO, GDF-SUEZ.”
INEO, GDF SUEZ Group
INEO, with a staff of 14,500 employees generated more than EUR 2 billion in revenues in 2009. It is a French leader in electrical installations, information and communication systems, and related services. With over 300 locations in France, INEO offers highly accessible solutions and services to customers in the Building services, Industrial, Energy, Defense & Security, Telecommunications, and Transportation sectors. INEO is part of GDF SUEZ Energy Services, European leader in multi-technical services, and one of the six Business Lines of GDF SUEZ, one of the world’s leading energy providers.
Ampere Equity Fund
Ampere Equity Fund invests in renewable energy projects in Western Europe, with amounts ranging from EUR 10-50 million equity per investment. The fund focuses on investments in energy producing assets applying proven technology, such as onshore wind, offshore wind, solar PV, concentrated solar power and biomass power plants, providing stable and predictable long term returns for its investors. The Fund has attracted major Dutch institutional investors with a total committed capital of EUR 320 million, which provides certainty of funding for its investment strategy until the end of 2011. Triodos Investment Management, a full subsidiary of Triodos Bank with over 25 years of experience in renewable energy investments, acts as the Fund Manager of Ampere Equity Fund.