Iberdrola, the Spanish energy producer, is to pay €85m ($113m) for 49,9% of the Athens-based Rokas group in a move to gain access to Greece’s expanding wind energy market.
The deal comes on the heels of Iberdrola’s €565m acquisition last month of 470MW of capacity at wind parks in Spain and Portugal. It marks the first strategic investment by an international producer in Greece’s wind sector.
Rokas, listed on the Athens stock exchange, has 190MW of capacity, mainly at wind farms in Thrace, close to the Greek-Turkish border, and on the island of Evia. It plans to add another 400MW of capacity by 2008.
The first Greek producer to explore wind energy, Rokas has a 40% share of the market.