Canadian investment fund joins Elecnor and takes stake in the L'Érable wind farm

Elecnor has reached an agreement through its wind energy development subsidiary, Enerfín, with the Canadian investment fund, Eolectric Club Limited Partnership.

Under the agreement terms Eolectric Club Limited Partnership will take a 49% stake in the 100 MW L'Érable wind farm. The facility is located in Quebec, and Enerfin will continue as the majority stakeholder and operator of the wind farm.

Eolectric Club LP's backers are Industrialist Alliance Insurance and Financial Services Inc., one of the biggest insurance companies in Canada; Fiera Axium Infraestructures Canada LP, an investment fund controlled by Fiera Capital Corporation and Axium Infraestructures Management; and Eolectric Inc., one of the main wind energy developers in the province of Quebec.

The L'Érable wind farm has been in operation since November, and the initial cash injection under this deal is estimated at CAD$66 millions and will be made through a share issue.

Provincial utility Hydro-Quebec awarded the 20-year power purchase agreement (ppa) following a 2005 competitive call for wind projects. First power was originally due in December 2011.

Guillermo Planas, Enerfín's Managing Director, stated:

The stake taken in the L'Érable wind farm by this new partner, whose backers are also all Canadian, once again demonstrates our willingness to forge ties in this great country, and is a sign of its institutions' recognition of the Elecnor Group's good work.

Enerfín is studying new wind energy projects in the Canadian market, sited elsewhere in Quebec as well as the provinces of Ontario and British Columbia.