Windey to Invest in Fintel's 854 MW Maestrale Ring

Italy’s Fintel Energia and China’s Windey Energy Technology Group signed a strategic partnership agreement on September 22 at the WindEnergy trade fair in Hamburg, with the news released a day later, on September 23. The agreement opens the door for the Chinese turbine maker to invest capital directly in Fintel’s project portfolio in Serbia, either on its own or alongside other Chinese institutional investors that Windey proposes and Fintel approves.

The agreement was signed for Fintel by Tiziano Giovannetti. Balkan Green Energy News lists him as chief executive of Fintel Energia Group, while the company’s own statement describes his role as executive director of Fintel Energija AD. On the Chinese side, it was signed by Cheng Chenguang, general manager of Windey, a state-owned company that is both one of China’s leading wind turbine makers and a listed firm.

What wind farm is this about

At the center of the deal is Maestrale Ring, a planned 854 megawatt wind farm that Balkan Green Energy News describes as the largest onshore wind farm project in Europe. Windey was chosen as the turbine supplier for the project back in March 2023, long before an equity stake in the project itself became part of the conversation.

Beyond Maestrale Ring, the partnership also covers roughly 110 megawatts of capacity currently under construction. Balkan Green Energy News names them individually: Kosava 2 (68.4 MW), Kula 2, Kula 3, Kula 4 and Ram, each at 10 MW. Fintel’s own statement is less specific, referring only to the second and third phases of Kosava and the Kula wind farm without breaking the figures down by unit. The agreement also includes joint investment in modular data centers for artificial intelligence, which would be built near Fintel’s substations.

Fintel already operates three wind farms in Serbia: Kosava 1 at 69 MW, Kula at 9.9 MW and La Pikolina at 6.6 MW. The company has not disclosed the value of Windey’s new investment in the projects.

How much will Windey invest in Serbia’s wind farms?

That is the one figure missing from the deal. Neither Fintel nor Windey has published the amount of capital the Chinese side is putting in, or a timeline for when the investment would be completed. Both companies’ statements speak to the scope of the projects, not the price of the stake.

According to Fintel’s statement, the core of the agreement is neither the turbines nor the capital, but a binding commitment from Windey to use Chinese diplomatic channels to help speed up permitting for Fintel’s projects. The company points to what it calls a privileged institutional relationship between China and Serbia, and government channels that support major Chinese investment in the country, which it says should now help clear the administrative hurdles slowing its projects.

“I believe this is particularly significant news for Serbia, not only because of the scale of the investments contemplated under the agreement, but above all because of the institutional and diplomatic commitments undertaken by our Chinese partner.”

Tiziano Giovannetti said this in Fintel’s statement, carried by Balkan Green Energy News.

Fintel has been building on other Chinese ties in Serbia as well. In 2021, together with local partner MK Group, the company launched the Agrosolar Kula project, which combines farming with 660 megawatts of solar power generation, backed by a memorandum with China’s Power China, a different company from Windey. The new agreement with Windey goes a step further than Fintel’s earlier equipment supply contracts: this time, the Chinese partner is taking an equity stake in the projects themselves.

For Fintel, the message is clear: without help with permitting, neither Maestrale Ring nor the remaining 110 megawatts under construction can keep the pace the company has promised. The next step is a concrete date in the permitting process, and neither Fintel nor Windey has announced one yet.