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CMS advises Green Investment Group on the next transaction on the Polish wind farm market

12 November 2019

CMS advised Green Investment Group, owned by Macquarie, on the acquisition of the Zajączkowo wind farm located at Kobylnica, Pomorskie Province. The previous owners of the project were the companies Mitsui Renewable Energy Europe Limited and J-Power Investment Netherlands B.V. 

The 48 MW wind farm purchased by Green Investment Group, comprising 24 wind turbines, was commissioned in 2008. Following the purchase of the Kisielice wind farm, this is yet another transaction carried out by Green Investment Group in the renewable energy sector in Poland.

 “I am very pleased that we were able to provide comprehensive advice to Green Investment Group in yet another successful project in the renewable energy sector. This transaction is an excellent example of the extensive knowledge and experience of CMS in the renewable energy market in Poland”, says Piotr Ciołkowski, partner from the energy and infrastructure team of the CMS Warsaw office. “We are currently seeing huge interest from Polish and foreign investors in purchasing wind farms and carrying out new projects of this type”, says Maciej Ziółkowski, counsel with the energy and infrastructure team of the CMS Warsaw office.   

 “The combination of our extensive regulatory know-how and transactional expertise was key to allow us to provide top-notch service to our client” - Błażej Zagórski, partner in the CMS Warsaw’s corporate department added.

On the energy side, the team’s work was headed by Piotr Ciołkowski, partner and regulatory team leader, and Maciej Ziółkowski, counsel; on the transaction side – the project was led by Błażej Zagórski, partner and Rafał Burda, associate, with Graham Conlon, partner, advising on English law aspects of the deal. The following persons were also involved in the project: Agnieszka Skorupińska, counsel and leader of the environmental protection practice, senior associates Paulina Karpinska – Huzior, Agnieszka Starzyńska, Olga Czyżycka and Monika Kowara, associates  Piotr Prawda and Wojciech Szopiński, as well as lawyers Ada Szon, Mateusz Mazur, Paweł Ura, Maciej Brezdeń and Piotr Lipiński. 

CMS is currently one of the most experienced law firms on the renewable energy market in Poland, both as regards M&A, investments, and regulatory advice in the energy sector. 

This year alone CMS lawyers advised on:

(i) the acquisition of the Jasna wind farm by Stadtwerke München from WKN, the constructor of the farm, and its subsidiary Sevivon, owned by the PNE Group, which with a capacity of 132 MW is one of the largest onshore wind farms in Poland; and
(ii) the investment in and the subsequent sale of a complex of 49 photovoltaic power stations by Modus Group, a leading developer in the renewable energy sector, to Aberdeen Standard Investments, an asset management fund. The sale of a solar farms portfolio with a total capacity of 45.4 megawatts (MW) is considered to be the largest transaction of this type in Poland to date.

Moreover, the CMS team has recently worked for Signify, a Euronext listed company, in the purchase of renewable energy from Green Investment Group’s wind farm in Kisielice for the purpose of operations in Poland. The agreement was structured as a corporate Virtual Power Purchase Agreement (VPPA). It is one of the first agreements of this type concluded in the Polish market, and for the Signify group - its first in Europe.

CMS lawyers also advise on off-shore projects on the Baltic Sea, above all on issues connected with the construction of undersea gas pipes, off-shore drilling platforms, as well as for companies which are planning to construct off-shore wind farms.