Ardian, a world leading private investment house, announces the acquisition of 100% of Honkajoki in Finland, through its Clean Energy Evergreen Fund (ACEEF).  The sellers are two private asset management companies: UK based Access Capital Partners and German KGAL. Following the acquisition, the asset will be managed by Ardian’s operating partner in the region, eNordic. As part of a broader deployment strategy in the country, ACEEF also acquired another 6MW operating wind farm in the country earlier this year and is developing standalone and co-located battery storage projects in house, alongside eNordic.

The assets will also benefit from further integration with Ardian’s worldwide renewable-energy asset management platform, OPTA. OPTA is Ardian’s in-house data analytics tool designed to optimize the management of renewable energy portfolios and monitor market risk for renewable assets worldwide. Ardian now tracks more than 2.5 GW of renewable assets through OPTA.

These acquisitions further strengthen Ardian’s investment portfolio in renewable energy in the Nordic countries. The full portfolio aggregates to €1.2 bn and comprises wind parks totalling over 500 MW, as well as renewable energy company Nevel, which is active in district heating, industrial utilities and biogas across Finland and Sweden.

ACEEF will continue to focus on core renewable assets including solar, wind and hydro, as well as emerging technologies across biogas, biomass, storage and energy efficiency.

“The Honkajoki wind park is a strategic acquisition which complements Ardian’s recent investment in the wind park in Hamina. Ardian aims to continue investing in renewable energy in the Nordic countries, as one of the world’s leading regions in clean energy.” Eero Auranne, CEO, eNordic

“These investments further strengthen ACEEF’s long-term, Independent Power Producer approach in the Nordics. Finland fosters new market opportunities in the clean energy sector that Ardian is uniquely placed to capture with its long-term capital and industrial asset management expertise.” Benjamin Kennedy, Managing Director Infrastructure, Ardian

ACEEF is the Ardian Infrastructure team’s first open-ended clean energy fund, which was launched in early 2022 and which reached €1.0bn raised at the closing in July 2023. The fund offers professional investors the opportunity to enhance their exposure to renewable assets and the energy transition. The fund commits to making investments with an environmental objective as described in Article 9 fund of the EU Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation (SFDR) and invests globally, with a focus on Europe.

Ardian has been a pioneer in the energy transition, having started investing in renewable assets in 2007. Across all Infrastructure Funds, the team manages more than 8GW of thermal and renewable energy capacity in Europe and the Americas and has more than $28bn under management.