Hamburg – CEE Group, an asset manager based in Hamburg specializing in renewable energies, is setting new standards for institutional renewable energy investments in Germany with a groundbreaking financing structure. A renowned international banking club is providing a financing structure of up to €1.6 billion for CEE RF9 – Germany’s largest repowering fund. What makes this unique is that, for the first time, investment fund financing of this magnitude is being consolidated at portfolio level without requiring additional equity commitment from the fund’s investors
Paradigm shift in renewables financing
“To our knowledge, this financing structure is unique in the German market for alternative investment funds,” explains Detlef Schreiber, CEO of CEE Group. “For the first time, we have achieved consolidation at portfolio level of the fund – without additional equity from our institutional investors. This not only enables the repayment of various existing credit lines but also secures the complete financing of our ambitious repowering strategy until 2030.”
The financing structure demonstrates the growing maturity of the German renewables investment market. “It speaks for the professionalization of the market that such an impressive international consortium is financing our repowering strategy with this volume,” said Franjo Salic, CIO of the CEE Group. “The megatrend of repowering is absolutely bankable and offers a win-win situation for both equity and debt investors.”
CEE Group deliberately decided against traditional underwriting and instead opted for a strategic club deal with selected partners. “The fact that we were able to implement this financing based on the strong portfolio of the RF9 fund underscores the bankability of the repowering concept in Germany and the liquidity available in the market. The strategic decision in favor of this club deal is a key differentiator,” explains Salic.
“Diversification is textbook risk mitigation,” Schreiber continues, “and has been consistently implemented in RF9 – not only through a diversified portfolio across countries and technologies, but also through a fully integrated portfolio management. RF9 takes the proven concept of diversification to the next level: while traditionally each project was managed as a single SPV (special purpose vehicle) with its own financing, power marketing, and liquidity management, our integrated approach enables consolidated management of these functions at fund level This creates economies of scale, improved conditions, and, above all, a flexible investment strategy that can perform in challenging market phases.”
Substantial contribution to the energy transition
By repowering at least 29 assets with state-of-the-art wind turbines and PV modules, the installed capacity of the overall portfolio will increase from the current 457 MW(p) to around 1.1 GW(p) – a growth of more than 140 percent. “Repowering is the key to accelerating the energy transition,” emphasizes Schreiber. “We are doubling or tripling green electricity production at the same location – while utilizing existing infrastructure such as grid connections. This significantly shortens development times and avoids lengthy approval procedures.”
The 45 asset locations (17 wind and 28 solar project companies) are spread across Germany, with some assets in France. The assets, averaging 13 years in age, continue to benefit from approximately seven years of remaining government feed-in tariffs.
Electricity marketing strategy at portfolio level
Following the successful financing, the CEE Group is focusing on implementing the electricity marketing strategy for the portfolio. “Concrete discussions are underway with long-term large-scale buyers for the electricity produced, particularly from the data center sector, whose interest has been piqued by the attractive baseload profile and the forecast quality of the portfolio,” explains Salic. The PPA is set to become an important component of the marketing strategy.
About the CEE RF9 Fund
RF9 was launched at the turn of 2024/2025 as the latest generation of the successful “CEE Renewables Fund/RF” product series. As an innovative continuation vehicle, it transferred existing portfolios consisting of 45 European PV and onshore wind assets from the CEE RF 1, 2, and 3 funds (launched between 2007 and 2013) to the new platform with the aim of extensive repowering by 2030.
About the partners
Hogan Lovells provided legal advice to CEE Group on the transaction, while White & Case advised the banks. Eight Advisory was responsible for structuring the financing.
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