Ardian Clean Energy Evergreen Fund’s first investment in battery storage in Finland

Frank­furt a. Main/ Lappe­en­ranta (Finland) — Ardian, a leading global private invest­ment firm, in coope­ra­tion with its opera­ting plat­form eNor­dic, today announ­ces that it has taken the Final Invest­ment Decis­ion (FID) for the cons­truc­tion of the Merta­niemi battery storage project. This is a battery energy storage system (BESS) with a capa­city of 38.5 MW in one-hour opera­tion in Finland, which is inten­ded to support the Finnish elec­tri­city grid.

The invest­ment, made from the Ardian Clean Energy Ever­green Fund (ACEEF), is the fund’s first invest­ment in the BESS asset class, which is expec­ted to grow from 11 GWh of instal­led capa­city in Europe today to 75 GWh by 2030, accor­ding to Bloom­berg New Energy Finance. Ardian evalua­ted the merits of this invest­ment using OPTA, Ardian’s proprie­tary data analy­tics plat­form, which forms the basis for the reve­nue and opera­tio­nal stra­tegy of Ardian’s rene­wa­ble energy port­fo­lio around the world.

The project is in line with the ACEEF stra­tegy in Finland, which aims to acquire and bundle wind and solar energy plants to bene­fit from econo­mies of scale and make better use of grid inter­con­nec­tion points through the deve­lo­p­ment of battery storage. This follows the acqui­si­tion of two wind farms in Finland in 2023 with a total capa­city of more than 27 mega­watts. The stra­tegy will be imple­men­ted by eNor­dic, a rene­wa­ble energy plat­form deve­lo­ped and wholly owned by Ardian to serve the Nordic region.

The battery storage project in Merta­niemi is a joint venture between ACEEF and Lappe­en­r­annan Ener­gia, a Finnish muni­ci­pal energy company. It envi­sa­ges the deve­lo­p­ment of a 38.5 mega­watt energy storage system for one hour. The project is sche­du­led for comple­tion in spring 2025 and is loca­ted near the Merta­niemi power plant in Lappeenranta.

In addi­tion to the energy storage system, the project also includes the deve­lo­p­ment of equip­ment to protect the batte­ries from extreme weather condi­ti­ons. Once comple­ted, the system will parti­ci­pate in the frequency reserve markets of the local grid and support the balan­cing of gene­ra­tion and consump­tion in the elec­tri­city grid.

ACEEF will conti­nue to pursue its stra­tegy of expan­ding the plat­form in Finland with the acqui­si­tion of further wind and battery systems in the region.

In total, Ardian’s invest­ment port­fo­lio in the rene­wa­ble energy sector in the Nordic count­ries amounts to EUR 1.2 billion. It compri­ses wind farms with a total capa­city of over 500 MW and the rene­wa­ble energy company Nevel, which is active in district heating, indus­trial energy supply and biogas in Finland, Sweden and Esto­nia. Recently, Ardian announ­ced the acqui­si­tion of Verne Global, a company that owns and opera­tes three data centers in Finland, among others; this acqui­si­tion is still in the process of being appro­ved by the local authorities.

“The invest­ment in a new battery storage system, which is a first for Ardian’s Ever­green clean energy fund, is a key part of our stra­tegy in Finland. We have reco­gni­zed the oppor­tu­nity to increase Finnish wind power capa­city and incor­po­rate battery storage tech­no­lo­gies to create a balan­ced and produc­tive energy system. With our strong presence and network in the Nordics and our expe­ri­ence in finan­cing and opera­ting long-term rene­wa­ble energy projects, Ardian is perfectly posi­tio­ned to support this new market oppor­tu­nity,” said Benja­min Kennedy (photo © ardian.com), Mana­ging Direc­tor Rene­wa­bles Infra­struc­ture, Ardian.

“Ardian is commit­ted to driving the energy tran­si­tion and promo­ting the use of rene­wa­ble energy to reduce carbon emis­si­ons. Rene­wa­ble energy is curr­ently being gene­ra­ted on an unpre­ce­den­ted scale and the deve­lo­p­ment of elec­tri­city storage solu­ti­ons is crucial to balan­cing supply and demand on the grid and crea­ting a stable modern elec­tri­city network. This invest­ment is an important step towards a more sustainable and relia­ble energy future in Finland.”
Mathias Burg­hardt, Execu­tive Vice Presi­dent and Head of Infra­struc­ture, Ardian.

“The Nordic energy market is alre­ady one step ahead in the energy tran­si­tion, mainly due to the scope of new tech­no­lo­gi­cal deve­lo­p­ments. The battery storage project in Merta­niemi is an exam­ple of how eNor­dic is at the fore­front of this move­ment, helping to realize the region’s goal of beco­ming a leading player in sustainable energy.”

ACEEF will conti­nue to focus on the most important rene­wa­ble ener­gies such as solar, wind and hydro­power, but also on new tech­no­lo­gies such as biogas, biomass, storage and energy efficiency.

Ardian is a pioneer of the energy tran­si­tion and began inves­t­ing in rene­wa­ble ener­gies in 2007. Across all infra­struc­ture funds, the team mana­ges a rene­wa­ble energy port­fo­lio of more than 8 GW of ther­mal and rene­wa­ble energy capa­city in Europe and the Ameri­cas and over USD 28 billion in assets under manage­ment around the world.

About Ardian

Ardian is a leading global private invest­ment firm that mana­ges or advi­ses on behalf of more than 1,560 clients world­wide with assets under manage­ment of USD 164 billion. Our exten­sive exper­tise in the areas of private equity, real assets and credit enables us to offer a broad range of invest­ment oppor­tu­ni­ties and to respond flexi­bly to the diffe­rent needs of our clients. Through Ardian Custo­mi­zed Solu­ti­ons, we create bespoke port­fo­lios that allow insti­tu­tio­nal clients to deter­mine their desi­red asset mix and gain access to funds mana­ged by leading third-party provi­ders. Private Wealth Solu­ti­ons offers specia­li­zed services and access solu­ti­ons for private banks, family offices and private insti­tu­tio­nal inves­tors world­wide. Ardian’s most important share­hol­der group is its employees, and we place great empha­sis on deve­lo­ping our people and foste­ring a culture of colla­bo­ra­tion based on coll­ec­tive intel­li­gence. Our more than 1,050 employees in 19 offices in Europe, North and South America, Asia and the Middle East are commit­ted to the prin­ci­ples of respon­si­ble inves­t­ing and are. www.ardian.com