NAIROBI, Kenya, July 13 – Private equity firm Actis has sold BTE Renewable to ENGIE and Meridiam for an undisclosed amount.
This follows the signing of a sales and purchase agreement by BTE Renewables, a developer, owner, and operator of renewable assets in Kenya and South Africa.
It also includes a carve-out of the Kenyan assets by ENGIE for Meridiam at closing.
“The acquisition of BTE is bringing to ENGIE high-quality operational assets and a strong project pipeline. We are looking forward to welcoming the BTE team within the Group,” ENGIE Senior Executive Vice President Renewables, Energy Management, and Nuclear Paulo Almirante said.
“The integration of BTE will contribute to our growth ambitions in the AMEA region. It will also contribute to South Africa’s ambitious energy plan and renewable targets.”
The acquisition of BTE will bring an additional 340 MW net of renewable operating assets to ENGIE (150 MW of onshore wind and 190 MW of solar photovoltaic (PV), a portfolio of more than 3 GW of advanced development pipeline/projects in a growing renewables market).
Meridiam acquired the 100 MW Kipeto Wind Farm, which is located approximately 70 kilometers south of Nairobi and has been operational since July 2021.
Also included is the 50 MW Siruai greenfield wind project with storage under development.
Located adjacent to the current Kipeto site, it is scheduled to become Kenya’s first battery storage facility.
In parallel, more than 100 MW of additional solar PV project opportunities have been identified.
“This transaction reinforces our footprint both in Kenya and more globally in Africa where we invested more than €5 billion to date,” Meridiam Partner and Deputy CEO Mathieu Peller said.
“Kipeto, our first wind farm asset on the continent, will greatly complement our existing renewable portfolio which already comprises solar, hydro, biomass and geothermal assets,” Peller added.
“Taking also into account the pipeline assets, this project will double our total renewable gene- ration capacity in Africa and bring it to over 500 MW.”
Completion of the transaction is expected by Q4 2023, subject to the fulfillment of certain authorizations, including merger control clearance from relevant competition authorities.
