The Clearwater team has advised SwissWinds Development, a developer of alpine wind farms on its sale of a 20% stake in Gries Wind AG to Stiftung Abendrot, a Swiss pension fund.
Gries Wind AG owns Switzerland’s second-largest wind farm with an installed capacity of 9.2 MW and a forecasted annual energy yield of around 10 GWh. Due to its high alpine location at 2,500m above sea level, the wind farm has a pioneering character and is regarded as a beacon project for alpine wind farms in Switzerland.
Stiftung Abendrot is a well-established pension fund in Switzerland with a clear focus on sustainability with regard to its investments. The direct investment in Grieswind AG fits seamlessly into its investment strategy. Furthermore, it gives Abendrot the opportunity on the one hand to expand its infrastructure portfolio in the field of domestic renewable energies and on the other hand to hedge the downside risk of the investment through the state-guaranteed feed-in tariff.
SwissWinds Development GmbH is a pioneer in this field in Switzerland. The company intends to use the proceeds from the transaction to complete further existing wind farm development projects in Switzerland.
