Germany’s Union adds two wind farms

Union Investment, the German fund manager, has acquired two onshore wind farms in Greneville en Beauce (Loiret) in France and Gibbet Hill (County Wexford) in Ireland. The wind farms entered service in July this year.

The French farm, which comprises eight turbines with a total output of 24 megawatts (MW), has been bought from VSB Energies Nouvelles, a wholly owned subsidiary of Dresden-based WSB Group.

Gibbet Hill, meanwhile, comprises six turbines with a rated output of 15MW and has been purchased from project developer ABO Wind of Wiesbaden, Germany.

Ten months after inception, Union Investment’s UniInstitutional Infrastruktur SICAV-SIF fund holds four European wind farms in three countries accounting for a combined investment commitment of €143 million.

In August, Union announced that the fund – its debut infrastructure vehicle – had achieved a €100 million second closing, meaning that €350 million was available for investment including debt financing.

Ultimately, the fund has a target of €300 million – translating to €800 million when allowing for the debt element.

“We want to expand the portfolio in Germany, the UK and France in particular,” said Christoph Schumacher, a member of the management team at Union Investment Institutional Property, which acts as investment adviser to the fund, in a statement.

“The first solar park will probably be transferred to holdings sometime this year,” he added.

Union Investment has more than €180 billion in assets under management and offers equity, fixed income, money market, alternative investment and quantitative structured products to private and institutional clients.