Denham Capital has declared the sale of Brazilian renewable energy company Rio Energy assets to Equinor. The transaction includes selected Rio Energy assets and management team platform. Denham Capital will continue to own 1.1 GW of Rio Energy’s selected assets despite the asset sale.
The acquired assets consist of the 600 MW pre-construction solar PV portfolio, 200 MW Serra da Babilonia 1 onshore wind farm in Bahia, and a project pipeline of 1,200 MW of onshore wind and solar projects. In addition to this, the company will keep 400 MW of onshore wind and solar projects and 200 MW of Caetite Norte onshore wind project. Furthermore, Equinor will acquire full ownership of Rio Energy.
Equinor has invested in several renewables companies, such as Wento in Poland, BeGreen in Denmark, Noriker Power in the UK, and East Point Energy in the US over the last few years to grow its global renewable energy business.
In January 2023, Equinor and BP joined forces to bid in New York’s third offshore wind solicitation (NY3), and submitted a request to the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA).
REGlobal’s Views: Brazil is the top renewable energy market in South America and this deal gives Equinor sizable portfolio in this renewable energy hotspot. Further, the deal is in line with Equinor’s strategy to grow its onshore renewables business through acquisitions of sizable portfolios.
