French infrastructure investment fund STOA is to buy 35% stakes in two Brazilian wind farms with combined capacity of 291MW from renewable energy developer Voltalia. The projects are the 163MW VSM 1 and 128MW VSM 2 wind farms currently under construction as part of Voltalia's Serra Branca cluster in the state of Rio Grande do Norte. The transaction should be finalised later in the summer. STOA is a joint stock company owned by Caisse des Depots (83.3%) and Agence Francaise de Developpment (16.7%). It has made investments in Africa and India previously, with the Brazilian deal the fund's first in Latin America. STOA chief executive Charles-Henri Malecot said: “By choosing Voltalia as a partner for setting up in Latin America, we want to benefit from 13 years of know-how in managing construction, operation and maintenance of wind farms in Brazil. “Brazil is a market were renewable energy is, by far, the cheapest source of electricity. This represents a huge pool of opportunities. “Through this partnership, we will be able to enter into this market with significant and performant assets for long-term value creation for all stakeholders. “This success also confirms our capacity to originate and execute deals on a global scale.” Voltalia chief executive Sebastien Clerc said: “Welcoming STOA, a top-tier French investment player, as one of our long-term partners is a very pleasant perspective. “This project of partnership opens even larger growth prospects for Voltalia in Brazil while creating value: it is a good illustration of our strategy aiming at developing a large volume of competitive projects with the idea of onboarding third- party investors, through partnerships or sales.” Serra Branca has the potential to deliver over 2.4GW of which 873MW is either under construction or in operation. Some 600MW of the 873MW is owned by Voltalia and 273MW by Echoenergia, a subsidiary of international investor Actis.
French private investment company STOA will make its debut in Latin American renewables after acquiring 35% interests in developer Voltalia's 163 MW VSM 1 and 128 MW VSM 2 wind farms, currently being built in Brazil's Charles-Henri Malecot do Norte. STOA CEO Rio Grande described Brazil's renewables market as "a huge pool of opportunities".