The Japanese based company Marubeni has agreed to acquire a 25% stake in Mainstream Renewable Power (Mainstream) for about €100m. The deal is subject to shareholder approval. Mainstream was established in 2008, and over five and half years, it has built global interests of more than 19,000 MW and expanded its presence across 7 countries including Ireland, UK, Germany, South Africa, Chile, USA, and Canada. In Europe, through a joint venture with Siemens Financial Services, Mainstream is developing the Hornsea 6,000 MW offshore project which is located off the Yorkshire coast of England, and also independently developing Neart na Gaoithe, a 450 MW project off the coast of Scotland. Mainstream also has onshore projects in Chile where it established a joint venture with infrastructure fund Actis to construct and operate a wind and solar platform worth US$1.4bn. In South Africa, Mainstream has a development portfolio in excess of 5,000 MW.
In a separate deal, Marubeni announced that it had signed a strategic partnership with GDF SUEZ to acquire 50% of National Power International Holdings which holds GDF SUEZ’s asset portfolio of thermal and renewable power assets in Portugal. This portfolio consists of natural gas-fired CCGT power plant, coal-fired power plant, wind generation, small hydro generation and photovoltaic generation and has a capacity of around 3,300 MW (full consolidation). This is approximately 17% of the power generation capacity in Portugal and is therefore a vital part of the basic power infrastructure in the country. Marubeni will be managing the power plants in conjunction with GDF SUEZ and will contribute to Portugal by providing seamless and efficient operation of the power plants.