CWP Europe of the international energy infrastructure development company CWP Global, operating in Australia and Europe, enters the Ukrainian market for the first time with the acquisition of a 73 MW onshore wind turbine in Kherson region, the representative office of CMS Cameron McKenna Nabarro Olswang (Germany) in Kyiv said on its website.
“CMS Cameron McKenna Nabarro Olswang in Kyiv has advised CWP Europe (CWP) on the acquisition of 73MW wind project in development. The acquisition marks CWP’s first investment in Ukraine,” CMS said in a press release.
According to Vitaliy Radchenko, Head of Energy & Projects at CMS in Kyiv, whose words are quoted in the press release, the acquisition shows confidence in the long-term prospects of the Ukrainian renewable energy sector and its further growth potential.
According to Interfax-Ukraine, the deal concerns Prydniprovski Lany LLC (Bilozerka district, Kherson region). According to information from open sources, the registration of the change of its shareholders took place on July 19, 2021: now the LLC is fully owned by Sea Double Pi Europe S.A.R.L with a contribution to the charter capital of UAH 20.02 million.
Among the ultimate beneficiaries are the founder and CWP Global American Board Chairman Mark Crandall (26.81%), founders and members of the board of directors Bulgarian Dimitar Enchev (20.41%) and Italian Fabrizio Cagnasso (12.45%). Until the beginning of July 2021, the shareholder of the LLC was open joint-stock company Greenworks Holding, founded in Belgium by Tom Hanson.
Vitaliy Shubin, prior to his appointment as First Deputy Minister of Energy in October 2019, headed the LLC, then called the Suvorov Wind Power Plant. After him, this position was taken by Oleh Terletsky, who is currently a member of the supervisory board of PJSC Ukrhydroenergo. Viktoria Tokova is now the director of the LLC.
Earlier, CWP Global reported on its website that the 73 MW wind project, which it intends to implement in Ukraine, is under development. CWP Global’s project is expected to enter construction in 2023, bringing EUR 76 million of investment and creating 360 jobs.
Expanding its portfolio into Ukraine with further large-scale projects, the company was guided by the fact that, according to the forecasts of the International Energy Agency, the volume of production of renewable energy sources in the country will grow from 4% in 2015 to 25% over the next decade, the company said.
At the same time, the company said that due to its proximity and quality of renewable resources, Ukraine is also uniquely positioned to potentially be a major producer and exporter of green hydrogen as the EU looks to hydrogen as an important decarbonisation vector.
“CWP Global views Ukraine as a potential continent-scale production hub to generate and export hydrogen to western European countries,” the company said.
“Western European markets are rapidly increasing demand for green electricity and will soon dramatically increase demand for green hydrogen, all due to the drive to decarbonize the energy sector. Given Ukraine’s important renewable energy potential, and because of its proximity to this growing market, it was the obvious choice for CWP Global to invest in Ukraine,” Crandall said.
Ukrainian experts said that the project will be implemented without the feed-in tariff, since there is no longer such a legislative opportunity for new projects.
CWP Global is a global pioneer in the large-scale production of clean hydrogen.
CWP Global was founded in 2007 with the aim of entering the emerging renewable energy market in Southeast Europe (SEE), including major projects in Romania and Serbia, as well as Australia (2 GW).
In late 2020 we merged CWP Renewables with the Grassroots Renewable Energy Trust, creating a multi-billion-dollar integrated renewables company in partnership with Partners Group.
