Allianz Global Investors announces that the Allianz Renewable Energy Fund II (AREF II) has been fully invested within 24 months following the purchase of further photovoltaic plants in Italy and France. The issuing period for AREF II to European institutional investors began in March 2016 and closed for further investments on November 15, 2016. Just like the first Allianz Renewable Energy Fund (AREF I), the AREF II fund invested around 350 million euros in European wind and solar power plants.
The team led by Armin Sandhoevel, CIO Infrastructure Equity, bought the last solar parks in northern Italy and southwestern France. The installed capacity of the 12 Italian photovoltaic plants in Veneto and Friuli Venezia Giuglia is around 12 megawatts, and that of the French solar plant "Tourillon" around 9 megawatts. Overall, the AREF II portfolio has a total installed capacity of around 420 megawatts divided into around 300 megawatts of onshore wind energy and around 120 megawatts of solar energy. This corresponds to an annual electricity requirement of around 260,000 households.
"We are delighted that this is the second time we have worked together with BayWa.r.e. for our AREF II customers in a proven partnership," says Thomas Engelmann, who is responsible for the transactions. At the beginning of 2017, Allianz Global Investors acquired the "Wendy" solar park portfolio in Great Britain from BayWa.r.e. and entrusted it with operational management. "With the purchase of "Vicenza" in Italy, we were able to further expand the diversification of the AREF II portfolio not only technically but also regionally," said Engelmann.
Over the past two years, the Infrastructure Equity team has invested in France, Germany, the Netherlands, Sweden, the UK and Italy. Sandhoevel says: "The European renewable energy market is highly competitive. However, our strong market position has enabled us to build a balanced portfolio that invests in six countries. In particular, our growing relationships with project developers which have offered us good access to many projects."
In total, Allianz Global Investors' Infrastructure Equity team manages roughly 1.6 billion euros in renewable energy and energy infrastructure projects. No further purchase or financing details will be disclosed.
