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Allianz acquires first subsidy free solar project in Iberia

Allianz SE | Munich | Oct 25, 2018

  • First investment in solar farm without public subsidies in Portugal
  • Energy for 23,000 households per year
  • Power Purchase Agreement in place

Allianz Capital Partners on behalf of Allianz insurance companies has closed today the acquisition of the 46 megawatt (MW) Ourika project (“Ourika”) in Portugal. The solar farm is fully operational and has been developed by the WElink Group (“WElink”). 

More than 50% of Portugal’s energy comes from wind, solar and hydro and it ranks sixth highest amongst EU nations. Ourika is located in Southern Portugal, around 170km south-east of Lisbon. This 46.1 MW project is capable of producing enough renewable electricity for approximately 23,000 average households of the region per year.

Ourika has entered into a 20 year fixed price power purchase agreement (PPA)  

Ourika solar project in Portugal
Photo (© Welink) – can be printed free of charge.

Ourika is a pioneering project at Iberian level and will be one of the first large solar power plants in operation that has no guaranteed tariff supported by taxpayers, but rather relies on a corporate PPA. 

“We are delighted to partner with the experienced developer WElink on this project, which is our first investment in a solar project in Portugal. Ourika is a very valuable ESG (Environmental, Social, Governance) -conform addition to our climate-friendly portfolio, which now exceeds 90 solar farms and wind parks. This investment proves the importance of renewable energies for the investment portfolio of Allianz being one of the leading European investors in this sector. We hope to invest in more subsidy free solar projects across many European markets in the future and look forward to further projects with WElink or other experienced counterparties.” says Marc Groves-Raines, Head of Renewables at Allianz Capital Partners.

Barry O’Neill, CEO of WElink Group, says: “This acquisition agreement represents an important strategic milestone for WElink Energy. We are extremely pleased to close this transaction with Allianz Capital Partners. It cements our transition to becoming a leading international power producer. Ourika is the first project in an ambitious investment programme for WElink and working together with our partner China Triumph International Engineering Company in core markets in Southern Europe. Ourika will be followed by the Solara4 project in Portugal due for completion in Q3 2019”. 

With the 8th solar farm investment, Allianz investments in the renewable energy sector exceed 90 renewables projects, with a total of 83 wind parks and 8 solar farms located in Austria, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, Portugal, Sweden and the United States. 

The wind and solar parks of Allianz generate enough renewable energy to supply over a million households, which is comparable to a city the size of central Paris.

 

About Allianz

The Allianz Group is one of the world's leading insurers and asset managers with around 125 million* private and corporate customers in nearly 70 countries. Allianz customers benefit from a broad range of personal and corporate insurance services, ranging from property, life and health insurance to assistance services to credit insurance and global business insurance. Allianz is one of the world’s largest investors, managing around 737 billion euros** on behalf of its insurance customers. Furthermore, our asset managers PIMCO and Allianz Global Investors manage about 1.7 trillion euros** of third-party assets. Thanks to our systematic integration of ecological and social criteria in our business processes and investment decisions, we are among the leaders in the insurance industry in the Dow Jones Sustainability Index. In 2023, over 157,000 employees achieved total business volume of 161.7 billion euros and an operating profit of 14.7 billion euros for the group.
* Including non-consolidated entities with Allianz customers.
** As of December 31, 2023.

About Allianz Capital Partners

Allianz Capital Partners is one of the Allianz Group's asset managers for alternative equity investments and part of Allianz Global Investors. Allianz Capital Partners manages over 56 billion euros in alternative assets for the Allianz Group and third-party investors**. Our investment focus is on private equity, infrastructure and renewable energy. Our investment strategy aims to generate attractive, long-term and stable returns for our clients.

As of March 31, 2023.

About WElink Group

Founded in 2007, and headquartered in Dublin, Ireland, WElink Group delivers renewable energy solutions and develops energy-efficient, off-site manufactured housing solutions. WElink operates in strategic partnership with China National Building Materials (“CNBM”), a world leading building products and International EPC company. CNBM is a Chinese, Fortune 500 Company which has constructed over 1 GW of solar PV plants globally. 

WElink Group operates globally with offices located in Ireland, UK, Spain, Portugal, Italy, China and the US and has representation in other Asian, North American and Latin American markets. WElink Energy is leading provider of energy solutions. Its highly-qualified team have developed more than 1 GW of projects in Europe, North America, LATAM and Asia. WElink Energy has a pipeline of more than 2.5 GW for development by 2021. 

WElink Energy has a decade long strategic partnership with China Triumph International Engineering Company Limited “CTIEC”, the international EPC division of CNBM.

Cautionary note regarding forward-looking statements

As with all content published on this site, these statements are subject to our cautionary note regarding forward-looking statements:

Contact



Pia Groeger
Allianz Capital Partners
+49 89 1220 8267
Send email

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