- BTE Renewables is being purchased by the French company Engie and Meridiam.
- The British investment firm Actis formerly owned BTE that operates in Kenya and South Africa.
In Africa, Engie’s portfolio expands by 340 MW. To acquire renewable energy producer BTE Renewables, the French conglomerate has teamed up with financial firm Meridiam. Actis, a British investment firm, had previously owned the Johannesburg, South Africa-based company. According to the terms of the contract with Meridiam, the deal gives Engie access to 340 MW of assets.
This includes 190 MW of solar photovoltaic power and 150 MW of onshore wind power. The group led by Catherine MacGregor reports that the French energy giant would also take over a portfolio of “more than 3 GW of advanced development projects in a fast-growing renewable energy market with a solid regulatory framework and a team of around 80 recognized professionals.”
Meridiam is buying the 100 MW Kipeto wind farm, which has been in operation since July 2021 and is situated about 70 km south of Nairobi, the capital of Kenya. Included is the 50 MW Siruai wind project with storage that is currently under construction. It’s intended to be the first battery-powered electricity storage facility in Kenya, and it will be built close to the current Kipeto site. At the same time, BTE Renewables has found potential for over 100MW worth of further solar PV projects.
“This transaction strengthens our presence in Kenya and Africa as a whole, where we have invested more than €5 billion to date. Kipeto, our first wind farm on the continent, will complement our renewable energy portfolio which already includes solar, hydro, geothermal and biomass assets. Including the pipeline assets, this project will double our total renewable energy capacity in Africa to over 500 MW”, explains Mathieu Peller, Partner and Deputy Managing Director of Meridiam.
As a result, BTE is Actis’ second renewable energy seller in the last year. Infinity Energy, a business with headquarters in Cairo, Egypt, and Africa Finance Corporation (AFC), a pan-African multilateral development finance institution with headquarters in Lagos, Nigeria, purchased the wind power producer Lekela Power from the investment firm with $19 billion in assets under management a few months ago. Actis is also interested in the green hydrogen and its derivatives business in Egypt.