* DEG, Energiequelle and Geo-Net establish development company for wind energy projects
* Joining forces for climate-friendly investments
Climate protection is one of the big challenges of the 21st century. In this context German enterprises can play an important role with their know-how: To further develop the wind energy sector in Thailand, DEG – Deutsche Investitions- und Entwicklungsgesellschaft mbH, in cooperation with the German medium-sized enterprises Energiequelle GmbH and Geo-Net Umweltconsulting GmbH, establishes the project development company WIP.
“As a development finance institution, projects in the field of renewable energy are especially close to our heart. The cooperation with the experts in climate protection from Energiequelle and Geo-Net enables us to join our forces and together expand the wind energy sector in Thailand,” said Dr Herbert Baumgartner, Director of the DEG Office in Thailand, on the occasion of the signing ceremony in Bangkok. “With the cooperation with DEG, we wish to further manifest our commitment in Thailand, beyond the project on the island of Koh Tao, a wind-diesel-hybrid solution (“Green Island Koh Tao”), which has been running for quite some time,” said Joachim Uecker, Managing Director of Energiequelle GmbH. Geo-Net CEO Peter Trute added: “This partnership is intended to develop wind energy projects of at least 200 MW in Central Thailand and implement them over the next few years with the help of German know-how and technology.“
DEG, Energiequelle and Geo-Net hold one-third each as shareholders of WIP. DEG assumes the special role of a venture capital provider in this project, but also brings in its country know-how and its contacts on the ground. The cooperation aims at identifying suitable locations for wind parks in Thailand, acquiring land use rights and carrying out wind studies. The wind parks are planned to be set up in structurally weak regions to generate work for local companies and create jobs. German expertise is to help cover the growing energy demand of the Thai economy by climate-friendly energy and reduce the dependency on fossil fuels.
In this cooperation, Energiequelle does not only bring in experience as a developer and operator of wind parks in Germany, but also those from the successful implementation of projects in Europe. Geo-Net is a consultancy with a focus on renewable energy, which has to date investigated around 1,600 potential locations for wind parks.
German small and medium-sized enterprise is a central target group of DEG. It provides them with long-term funds and advice as regards their investments in developing and transition countries. As a rule, DEG provides financings in the range between 3 and 25 million euros per project. However, it is also smaller investments which can be realised in cooperation with DEG.