March 14 (SeeNews) - Lithuania's Achema Group said on Wednesday it has completed the acquisition of a 42 MW wind farm in Croatia, which constitutes one tenth of the country’s wind energy market capacity, and an 18 MW wind farm in the Czech Republic.
The purchases were finalised by Renerga, a company owned by Achema Group, and financed by SEB Bank, while a significant amount was invested by the group itself, Achema Group said in a statement on its website.
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The wind farm in Croatia was established three years ago and consists of 14 wind turbines which were supplied by Danish manufacturer Vestas.
The purchase also includes infrastructure which is ready for further development and is located just 45 km from the Port of Zadar, the company noted.
It explained that the electricity generated by the wind farm will be sold to electricity network operators in the country.
"Renewable energy is one of the strategic directions of the Group and to realize our goals we are constantly looking for attractive investment opportunities, both in Lithuania and abroad," Lidija Lubiene, chairman of Achema Group, is quoted saying. She added that Croatia was selected for the investment because it has enforced plans for wind energy development.
Achema did not elaborate any further on its purchase in Croatia.
In 2014 Vestas said it received a 42 MW order from France's Akuo Energy for 14 wind turbines for the Ogorje wind power plant in Croatia. The Ogorje wind power plant will produce more than 100,000 megawatt-hours per year, which corresponds to enough electricity to cover the residential electricity consumption of more than 31,000 Croatian households, Vestas said at the time.
Croatia targets to generate 20% of its energy output from renewable energy sources by 2020, in line with EU targets. However, in 2015 already renewable energy had a 29% share of the total.