In 2022 Orsted bought the Ostwind group, a German and French onshore wind developer, for about $703 million. Less than two years later it sold the French business to ENGIE and left France altogether. Neither company put a price on the second deal when it was announced. The number surfaced later, and it reads very differently from the first one.
Key takeaways
- Orsted agreed on 29 April 2024 to sell Ostwind France, its onshore wind and solar business in France, to ENGIE, a transaction that marks Orsted's complete withdrawal from the French market.
- Enerdatics identified the value of the Ostwind France sale as $108 million despite no public disclosure in the transaction press release, and ENGIE later reported a consideration of $108 million in its H1 2024 report; the deal completed in May 2024.
- Ostwind France has a 78 MW portfolio in operation and under construction: nine wind farms in Hauts-de-France and Nouvelle-Aquitaine totalling 74 MW, of which 24 MW is under construction, plus the 4 MW operating Les Abeilles solar plant.
- At $108 million for 78 MW, ENGIE's purchase of Ostwind France works out at about $1.38 million per MW, compared with about $0.42 million per MW for Orsted's 2022 acquisition of the whole Ostwind group.
- The Ostwind France assets have operated for 12.15 years on a weighted average basis and carry a weighted average remaining contracted period of 5.42 years.
What did Orsted buy in 2022?
A platform, mostly unbuilt. Orsted agreed in July 2022 to acquire four Ostwind companies for an enterprise value of $702.93 million, and the deal completed that September. Leap records the portfolio at 1,678 MW. Only 152 MW of that was wind in operation or under construction. A further 526 MW was in advanced development, and about 1 GW of wind and solar sat further back in the pipeline.
The price reflected that mix. Spread across the full 1,678 MW, it comes to about $0.42 million per MW, a figure diluted by a large volume of capacity that did not yet exist. Orsted was also buying a team of 115 people across nine local offices in Germany and France, with development, project management, operations and repowering capabilities.
The German side stayed. Leap's record of the 2024 sale notes that the German part of the Ostwind business has been fully integrated into Orsted and remains a focus of its European onshore investments.
Why did Orsted sell the French business so soon?
Because its strategy narrowed. Orsted's updated business plan concentrates its onshore business on markets where it believes it can maximise value, which it named as the United Kingdom, Ireland, Germany and Spain. France was not on the list. After the sale Orsted has no business activities in France at all.
The French entities ENGIE acquired are OSTWIND International S.A.S., OSTWIND Engineering S.A. and their subsidiaries. That means ENGIE takes on a development business as well as operating assets. Ostwind France won onshore wind projects in the fifth PPE2 auction round in November 2023, and it continues to advance a wider pipeline beyond the 78 MW in operation and construction.
For ENGIE the fit is straightforward. Its subsidiary ENGIE Green already held 2.5 GW of wind and 1.9 GW of solar in France at the end of 2023. The acquisition adds local presence in two regions and a development team, which ENGIE expects to strengthen its expertise and competitiveness in French wind and solar.
What does $1.38 million per MW actually price?
A small, partly contracted portfolio, plus a pipeline. Divide $108 million by 78 MW and the result is about $1.38 million per MW. That figure is more than three times what Orsted paid per MW for the whole group in 2022, but the two numbers measure different things. The 2022 figure was spread over a large undeveloped pipeline. The 2024 figure is concentrated on capacity that is running or being built, with the French pipeline and engineering business included at no separate price.
The contracts matter too. Ostwind France's wind farms sell power under corporate PPAs of 15 to 20 years. The Les Abeilles solar plant earns a 20-year subsidy under the FV16SCR regime. Les Dix Huit wind farm sells into the French merchant market until 2026 and then holds a contract for difference running to 2046. Across the portfolio the weighted remaining contracted period is 5.42 years, which is short for assets with an average age of just over 12 years.
Enerdatics records seven French wind M&A transactions with a disclosed value announced from January 2023 to June 2025. Of the operating portfolio sales, Pontegadea's purchase of 158 MW from EDF Renewables in June 2024 for about $172 million works out at about $1.09 million per MW, and Compagnie Nationale du Rhone's purchase of Voltalia's 12 MW La Faye wind farm in December 2024 at about $1.06 million per MW. The 2023 sale of 30 percent of Innergex's French business implies about $1.07 million per MW when grossed up to the full portfolio. At the top, EDP Renewables' sale of 122 MW across France and Belgium to Amundi Transition Energetique in May 2025 priced at about $1.84 million per MW. Ostwind France, at about $1.38 million per MW, sits above the cluster of pure operating deals and below the EDP sale, consistent with a price that includes a development platform.
What does the deal signal for French onshore wind?
It points to consolidation toward domestic utilities. A foreign developer that bought into France as part of a wider platform has sold its French arm to a French utility group that already had the scale to absorb it. Small, regional portfolios with development teams attached are the natural targets for that kind of buyer.
It also shows how quickly European onshore strategies can reverse. Orsted bought Ostwind in 2022 to expand onshore in Europe, and within two years had decided France did not make its list of priority markets. The French business moved to a buyer for whom France is home.
The open question is the pipeline. ENGIE's $108 million paid for 78 MW and a team. What the PPE2 auction wins and the wider French development portfolio turn into will decide whether the price looks full or cheap.
Frequently asked questions
How much did ENGIE pay for Ostwind France? ENGIE reported a consideration of $108 million for Ostwind France in its H1 2024 report. The deal was announced on 29 April 2024, completed in May 2024, and Enerdatics identified the $108 million value despite no disclosure in the transaction press release.
What assets are in Ostwind France? Ostwind France has a 78 MW portfolio: nine wind farms in Hauts-de-France and Nouvelle-Aquitaine totalling 74 MW, of which 24 MW is under construction, and the 4 MW Les Abeilles solar plant, plus a development pipeline.
How much did Orsted pay for Ostwind in 2022? Orsted acquired the Ostwind group, covering Germany and France, for an enterprise value of $702.93 million in a deal announced in July 2022, about $0.42 million per MW across a 1,678 MW portfolio that was mostly in development.
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