In its first transaction in the Baltics, the EBRD-EIB Multilateral Carbon Credit Fund (MCCF) has agreed to buy carbon credits from a group of wind farms managed by OÜ Nelja Energia, a renewable energy company, wholly-owned by Fre-energy AS, a leading Estonian investor in renewable energy in Eastern Europe.
OÜ Nelja Energia develops and manages a portfolio of 19 wind farms in Estonia, Lithuania and Latvia, with a planned combined capacity of 330 MW onshore and 700 MW offshore.
Under the purchase agreement, the MCCF will acquire carbon credits resulting from six OÜ Nelja Energia’s wind farms projects in Estonia and Lithuania, generated via the Joint Implementation (JI) mechanism under the Kyoto Protocol.
Currently one of the six wind farms is operational and the remaining under construction or development. Upon completion, the six wind farms will have a combined capacity of 76 megawatts.
The completion of the carbon credit purchase is subject to approvals from the Estonian and Lithuanian governments.
This transaction was negotiated by GreenStream Network Plc., which acts as a carbon manager for the MCCF.
In June 2009 the EBRD provided a €19 million equity investment in Fre-energy, to help support the development of OÜ Nelja Energia’s wind farm projects.
Background information:
Launched in December 2006 by the EBRD and the EIB, and whose participants include the governments of Finland, Belgium (Flanders), Ireland, Luxembourg, Spain and Sweden, as well as five private sector participants, the MCCF is one of the few carbon funds dedicated specifically to countries from central Europe to central Asia.
JI is a market-based approach for addressing global climate change aiming to achieve cost-efficient reductions in greenhouse gas emissions through targeted investments in transition economies. A JI project generates carbon credits (known as Emission Reduction Units). These can be used to meet a buyer’s compliance obligations.
The EBRD, owned by 61 countries and two intergovernmental institutions, is supporting the development of market economies and democracies in countries from central Europe to central Asia. www.ebrd.com
The EIB is the European Union’s long-term lending bank, promoting European objectives. Established in 1958, it operates within the 27 EU Member States and in more than 130 countries outside the EU. One of the EIB’s priority objectives is protection and improvement of the environment and mitigation against climate change, which accounted for almost EUR 18bn of the EIB’s total lending activity in 2009. For further information visit: www.eib.org
GreenStream is a leading Northern European developer and manager of green investment vehicles, basing its expertise on a variety of advanced advisory and intermediary services. Further information: www.greenstream.net
OÜ Nelja Energia operates in renewable energy development and power generation in the three Baltic States. At the moment, there are 9 wind farms with a combined capacity of 104,5 MW operating in Estonia and Lithuania. In addition, Nelja Energia is developing around 300MW of onshore and 700 MW of offshore wind farms. For more information: www.4energia.ee