Siemens Gamesa to sell European RE assets to SSE for €580 million

Renewable Energy major Siemens Gamesa has announced that it has entered into an agreement with Scotland-based SSE Renewables to sell its South European renewables development assets for a total cash consideration of €580 million.

The official statement says that the sale includes a pipeline of onshore wind projects that have a total capacity of 3.9 GW in various stages of development in Spain, France, Italy and Greece. These projects also have a possibility to develop up to 1GW of co-located photovoltaic projects.

There will also be a transfer of manpower. A team of around 40 persons from Siemens Gamesa will be integrated in SSE as part of the agreement in those countries only.

Siemens Gamesa says the transaction is expected to close during fiscal year of 2022 of Siemens Gamesa. The company said that the transaction closing is subject to customary regulatory approvals of the competent authorities and the purchase price consideration is subject to customary post-closing adjustments.

As part of the transaction, SSE Renewables will have the opportunity to partner with Siemens Gamesa on the provision of turbines and associated long-term maintenance services for a portion of wind farms installed and operated by SSE in the next few years coming from this sale.

Jochen Eickholt, CEO of Siemens Gamesa, said, “Today’s announcement demonstrates Siemens Gamesa’s capacity to optimize its portfolio of assets and maximize value. Our South European project development team has built an excellent and unique portfolio of wind projects in four countries over the years; as a result, there has been very strong market interest for this portfolio and we are confident SSE will be the right partner to develop these projects and integrate our employees.”

Stephen Wheeler, Managing Director of SSE Renewables, said, “We are delighted to boost the delivery of SSE’s Net Zero Acceleration Programme by expanding our existing renewables business into Southern Europe through this acquisition. Mainland Europe is an exciting growth market for onshore wind, with clear carbon reduction targets and supportive policies, whilst the expert management team will complement our sector-leading capabilities perfectly. The project portfolio brings some excellent assets and will provide a real springboard for our expansion plans in Europe across wind, solar, batteries and hydrogen.”

BofA Securities and CMS Albiñana&Suárez de Lezo acted as financial and legal advisors, respectively, to SGRE on the transaction.