Alcazar eyes new acquisitions in Western Balkans, eyes 1 GW of renewables

Alcazar Energy intends to complete two or three acquisitions of renewable energy projects over the next couple of quarters to reach 1 GW of capacity in the Western Balkans, the fund announced at Belgrade Energy Forum 2024.

Alcazar Energy is developing wind farm projects with a combined capacity of almost 500 MW in the Western Balkans. The latest acquisition in the region was the Bijela wind farm project in Šavnik, Montenegro, with a projected capacity of 118 MW.

Speaking at BEF 2024, Alcazar Energy Managing Director Daniel Calderon noted it is a Luxembourg-based private equity fund, regulated by article 9, and added that it means it has “a lens for ESG investments.”

“We have already completed an acquisition in Montenegro and during the next couple of quarters we’re looking to complete two or three more, with a view to have a total of 1 GW between construction and operation in the short term,” he explained.

Alcazar Energy is a fund that develops

The investors are a number of private institutions and multilaterals from the Americas, Europe from Asia, Calderon added.

What is different about Alcazar Energy is, in his words, that it is a fund that develops. One side of the fund knows how to structure the project finance, how to bring the wind farms to financial close, and the other knows how to design the engineering of these wind farms, but also how to work with local communities to make sure that the jobs around our power plants stay within the communities, the company head asserted.

On that note, Alcazar has a balanced approach, to try and produce a sustainable portfolio of renewable energy in the Western Balkans, Calderon pointed out.

During a panel that discussed the path and pace of progress towards a carbon-neutral future, he highlighted the examples of Turkey, Morocco, and Jordan. They are examples of how the region could benefit from the energy transition, Calderon added.

Of note, a week ago Alcazar Energy Partners II SLP-SCSp (AEP-II), a Luxembourg-domiciled sustainable infrastructure fund, reached a final closing of USD 490 million, attracting capital from investors in North America, Europe, the Middle East and Asia.

AEP-II aims to develop 1.6 GW, and mobilize USD 2 billion.