Portfolio of 206 MW in northern France changes hands

La Française d'Éoliennes, a French developer and operator of wind projects, has bought a 206 MW portfolio of projects in northern France from Germany's Umweltkontor AG. The portfolio comprises 10 MW under construction in the Vendée département, 62 MW in the permitting process and 134 MW under development. The company has also secured EUR 70 million in financing from a syndicate of Spanish banks led by Banco Sabadell and including Banco Santander and Caixa Catalunya to complete its 54 MW Voie Sacrée project in the Meuse département. When it comes online early next year, the wind plant, consisting of 27 Gamesa 2 MW turbines divided into five groups, will be one of the biggest in the country, allowing La Française d'Éoliennes to leapfrog ahead into the ranks of France's leading wind power generators. For the moment the company has 49.2 MW in operation in France and its overseas territories and a further 12 MW building.