Blackrock acquires wind project in Norway, Google signs PPAs

Zephyr and Norsk Vind Energi have sold the proprietary wind farm Tellenes in Rogaland, Western Norway, to a fund managed by BlackRock.

Zephyr develops Norwegian wind power projects and is owned by the energy utility companies Vardar (25 %), Energiselskapet Buskerud (25 %) and Østfold Energi (50 %). Tellenes wind farm has been developed by Zephyr (73,75 % stake) and Norsk Vind Energi (26,25 %), and the project will not require additional investment from any of the owners. The parties have agreed not to disclose the amounts involved in the transaction.

The wind farm will have 50 turbines, a total combined capacity of 160 MW and an expected annual production of more than 500 GWh when it is completed in 2017. Once fully operational, the wind farm will be the largest in operation in Norway. A long-term power sales agreement has been made for the entire energy production. Under the terms of the agreement Google will buy power from the wind farm.

Additionally, Google has agreed to buy power from the Lyrestad wind park in Mariestad, Sweden, putting the total newly acquired capacity at 236 MW. At the same time Rabbalshede Vind 5 AB, a joint venture between Rabbalshede Kraft AB and private investment company Ardian, placed a firm and unconditional order for the project, which includes 22 Vestas V126-3.45 MW turbines with a target full-year production of 234 GWh.

In early February, we reported that Invenergy signed a 225 MW wind power purchase agreement (PPA) with Google to provide the tech giant with renewable energy to help support its data center operations. Under the terms of the agreement  Invenergy provides approximately 965,000 MWh of renewable energy annually generated in Texas and delivered into the Southwest Power Pool (SPP).

Marc Oman, EU Energy Lead, Google Global Infrastructure, stated:

"Google has been carbon-neutral since 2007 and we are committed to powering 100 percent of our operations with renewable energy sources. The announcement, Google's first wind power deal in Norway and the largest to date in Europe, is an important step towards that commitment."