In April, Fri-El Green Power SpA’s subsidiary, Alerion Clean Power SpA, purchased 51% of Fri-El Anzi Srl, an Italian firm that manages an electric power generation facility in Bolzano. The acquisition was completed for a sum of €18.8M.
The company has been operating an onshore windfarm in Anzi, Italy since June 2011. The windfarm consists of eight Vestas V90/2000 turbines (2,00 MW) and is eligible for a 15-year feed-in tariff (FIT) scheme.
Since 2019, Anzi Onshore Windfarm has experienced a significant increase in revenue, with sales rising from €4.9M to €8M in 2021 and an estimated €9M+ for 2023. This can be attributed to the increase in the spot price of electricity in Italy, which surged briefly to above 600 EUR/MWh in 2022 and can be expected to stay high (above 100 EUR/MWh). The windfarm sells its electricity into the wholesale market, and any increase in the spot price above the FIT rate has a direct positive impact on revenue.
Table 1: Key Metrics for Anzi Onshore Windfarm
| Year | 2023 (est.) | 2021 | 2020 | 2019 |
| Anzi Onshore Windfarm Sales | c. EUR9M | EUR8M | EUR4M | EUR4.9M |
| EBITDA | c. EUR8M | EUR7M | EUR3.2M | EUR4.1M |
| Total Assets | c. EUR22M | EUR20M | EUR17.8M | EUR19.2M |
*Source: Annual Report Data, EDHEC Infrastructure and Private Assets Research Institute
Table 2 uses infraMetrics data to estimate a range of valuation ratios for windfarms in the United Kingdom. On a price-to-sales basis (3.6x), the deal seems fairly priced with an implied equity valuation of 34ME, a little below the realised value of 3.9x. On an EV-to-Ebitda basis, this transaction appears to be a good deal for the buyers, especially given its level of profits. However, this deal was announced as part of a tranche of several windfarm deals between the same buyers and sellers and this is likely to have affected pricing. It also suggests, as a number of actors have started to notice, that renewable asset prices are not always going up anymore.
Table 2: Price/Sales and EV/EBITDA Valuation Ranges
| Equivalent quintile | Average Price-to-Sales | Average EV-to-Ebitda |
| by Size (TA) | 3.5 | 7.6 |
| by Profitability (RoA) | 3.6 | 14.5 |
| by Leverage | 4.4 | 7.0 |
| by Investment (Capex/TA) | 3.5 | 7.6 |
| by Remaining Life | 3.1 | 6.1 |
| by Country Risk | 3.4 | 7.9 |
| Average ratios (Comps)* | 3.6 | 8.3 |
| Implied Equity Valuation | 34ME | 61ME |
| Actual Price | 36.9ME | |
| Actual Ratio | 3.9 | 5.15 |
| Source: infraMetrics, *EV estimated to be 40ME | ||
