Econcern to invest in Chinese wind power

www.environmental-finance.com
London, 4 December:

Econcern has agreed a €863 million ($1 billion) deal to invest in four Chinese onshore wind farms, with a combined capacity of 720MW. The Netherlands-based sustainable energy company announced the agreement during the international climate negotiations in Pozna?, which will see it invest in three wind farms with CNOOC New Energy, a subsidiary of state-owned oil giant China National Offshore Oil Corporation, and one with Sinohydro Renewable Energy, a subsidiary of state-owned hydropower and water conservation construction business Sinohydro Corporation.

Ad van Wijk, chairman of the Econcern board, said: "The size and scope of these agreements prove that a sustainable energy supply for everyone is absolutely achievable - it can be done and we are showing how." Although full financial details of the deal have not been disclosed, a spokeswoman told Environmental Finance: "Concerning our stake in the project, we always prefer to be a majority stakeholder, but that's not possible in China. Our share position varies between 25% and 49%, with an option to extend our share position in all projects to 49%." Econcern plans to build the wind farms in 2009.

The three wind farms developed with CNOOC will have a total capacity of 521MW when complete. They will be located in the provinces of Gansu, Hainan and Inner Mongolia. The 200MW Sinohydro wind farm will also be located in Gansu province. The spokeswoman said that the wind farms are expected to generate carbon credits. Van Wijk added: "Econcern has ambitious growth targets; these deals show that investment in sustainable solutions remain strong despite the current situation with the financial markets."