Italian legislation forces wind farm sales

The biggest portfolio being marketed is 550MW in Italian wind farms owned by the International Power division of Gaz de France. International Power entered Italy’s wind market in 2007 by acquiring the portfolio from Irish investor Trinergy.

Edison, a frontrunner in Italy’s wind sector now owned by French utility EDF, is also marketing its 468MW in Italian wind farms.

Swiss energy group Alpiq, which recently announced plans to dispose of non-Swiss renewable assets, has put up for sale 300MW in wind farms, including 200MW in Italy.  

While Italian firm Falck Renewables is not looking to make divestments, a source says it is looking for a partner.  Falck has a total 655MW in wind farms in Italy, France, Spain and the UK.

International Power, Edison, Alpiq and Falck were unable to comment.

Recently, state-energy management agency GSE announced the first tender for wind capacity to be assigned a feed-in tariff (FIT) under a less generous, more bureaucratic system that comes into effect next year.

The new system sets a limit on the number of onshore projects that will receive the FIT at well below the 1GW annual growth rate the Italian market has seen in recent years. "Without a doubt there should be a strong reduction in new wind capacity," said Costantino Lato, GSE's research and statistics director.