Deals

SN Power forms clean energy JV with Brazil pension

The Norwegian firm has paid $440m to acquire a stake in Brazilian renewable firm Desenvix. As part of the purchase, SN Power has also formed a joint venture with Desenvix’s shareholders, including Funcef, Brazil’s third-largest pension fund, to develop 1,000MW of hydropower projects by 2018.

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Renewable energy developer SN Power has acquired a 40.7 percent stake in Brazilian hydropower company Desenvix for $440 million.

Through this acquisition, SN Power said it would form a joint venture with Desenvix’s existing owners – Brazilian pension Funcef and Jackson Emprendimientos – to develop 1,000 megawatts of renewable energy projects by 2018.

Desenvix's focus is hydropower, but the company also controls two wind farms and is constructing a biomass plant, according to SN Power. Desenvix currently has 176 megawatts of projects under construction and 162 megawatts in operation.

Following SN Power’s investment, Jackson will own 40.7 percent of Desenvix, while Funcef will own the remaining 18.7 percent share. Funcef manages the pensions of employees of Brazil’s federal Caixa Econômica Bank, and is the country’s third-largest pension fund, according to SN Power.

Oslo-headquartered SN Power is a joint venture between renewable energy company Statkraft, which is wholly owned by the Norwegian government, and Norfund, the Norwegian Investment Fund for Developing Countries.

Earlier this year, SN Power bought Enerpar, a Brazilian energy trading company and a subsidiary of Norwegian group Norske Skog, for $75 million.  That acquisition gave SN Power energy purchase contracts for an average of 1.2 terawatts per year until 2025, according to Stefan Okstveit, a company spokesperson.

The Enerpar acquisition marked SN Power’s first investment in Brazil, according to a statement, but Okstveit said Brazil offered “major opportunities” for SN Power in the future, due to the stability and growth of its energy market.

SN Power says it is working to develop 3,000 megawatts of hydropower projects worldwide, and reported assets of $1.7 billion as of 31 December 2010.