Union Investment has now fully reached the investment target for its infrastructure fund UniInstitutional Infrastruktur SICAV-SIF, launched in 2012.

Carrowleagh Wind Farm on Ireland’s Atlantic coast is the final major investment for the Union Investment fund, which is invested exclusively in plants for generating renewable energy. This transaction takes the infrastructure fund’s total investment to €320 million (US$358 million), spread across nine wind farms and solar parks in Germany, France, the UK and Ireland.

Dr. Christoph Schumacher, a member of the management team at Union Investment Institutional Property GmbH, said:

“We have invested in the generation of renewable energy at European level to meet the needs of institutional investors and are very satisfied with the results. The infrastructure fund is broadly diversified and exploits the good conditions for wind and solar energy at the various locations.”

The vendor of Carrowleagh Wind Farm is the Irish company Aeropower Wind Energy Ltd. Tapbury Management Ltd. of Ireland is responsible for ongoing operation of the facility. The onshore wind farm comprises 16 E-70 gearless wind turbines made by ENERCON, which were connected to the grid back in 2012 and have a rated output of 37 MW. This enables them to produce an estimated 97.8 GWh of electricity a year – enough wind energy to cover the annual requirement of some 305,000 households.

Union Investment was advised on the acquisition by London-based Green Evolution Capital and law firm McCann FitzGerald of Dublin. Aeropower Wind Energy Ltd. was advised by Berlin based First Berlin Securities Brokerage and law firm Eversheds.

The fund's portfolio is targeted at investments in core European countries, primarily Germany, France and the UK. Investments in Scandinavia and Poland can also be included on a selective basis. The focus will be on wind farms (onshore projects), making up around 70% of total assets. An investment of up to 30% in photovoltaic systems is also planned.