European renewables giants agree major asset sales in Mexico and Canada

The European M&A market for clean energy assets ended the week with a bang as two of the continent's biggest players announced strategic divestments that included Iberdrola's sale of $4.2bn worth of Mexican assets and Statkraft's exit from Canada.

Iberdrola’s deal, which includes 1.2GW of wind and photovoltaic assets and 1.4GW of combined cycle gas and cogeneration plants in Mexico, will raise $4.2bn toward the company’s plan to invest €55bn ($63bn) in its electricity transmission and distribution network subsidiaries in the US, the UK and elsewhere.

The Mexican portfolio includes generation projects which Cox intends to put into operation in the future and, as these projects are completed, the buyer is expected to make additional payments, Iberdrola said.

Iberdrola’s network investments are largely targeted at the US (Avangrid Networks) and the UK (ScottishPower Energy Networks), but also include Brazil (Neoenergia) and Spain (i-DE).

Spanish renewable energy and water company Cox said the deal is part of its own strategy to pursue growth through acquisitions.

Mexico became a hostile place for renewable energy investors under former President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, who was a passionate advocate of state-run oil and gas industries, but the environment for renewables developers has improved under his successor and former protégé President Claudia Sheinbaum.

Statkraft shift

Meanwhile, Statkraft said it has agreed to sell its Enerfin Canada unit, which holds its renewables portfolio in that country, to Atlantica Sustainable Infrastructure.

The transaction includes two operating wind farms totalling 236MW of installed capacity, and an 800MW portfolio of six wind and solar projects under development.

Norway's state-run renewables company Statkraft acquired its Canadian renewables portfolio as part of the Enerfin acquisition that was completed in May 2024.

The acquisition added a portfolio of 1.5 GW of wind and solar power projects in operation and under construction, as well as a pipeline of projects under development and placed Statkraft among the top 10 wind producers in both Spain and Brazil.

“I am pleased that we by signing this deal have successfully agreed to sell the last of the planned divestments of our Enerfín portfolio in countries outside Statkraft’s core markets," said Barbara Flesche, executive vice president.

"We have worked on the sales processes since the completion of the Enerfín acquisition, and they have been delayed by increased global uncertainty.”