Munich Re buys three wind parks in Britain

Munich Re, the world's largest reinsurer, said Monday it has acquired three wind parks in Britain as part of a 2.5-billion-euro ($3.0-billion) investment in renewable energies. The three wind parks -- in Wales and the regions around Manchester and Lincoln -- represent a total capacity of 102 Megawatts and an investment of up to 300 million euros, Munich Re said in a statement. The reinsurer has already invested 600 million euros in renewable sources of energy in Europe since 2011. The business daily Handelsblatt reported in its Monday edition that Munich Re and fellow insurance giant Allianz were in talks with the German government about investing in offshore wind parks in the North Sea. Neither company would confirm or deny the information. At the same time, Handelsblatt reported Economy Minister Philipp Roesler is losing patience with Dutch network operator Tennet who the government blames for the lack of progress in the expansion of Germany's offshore wind parks. Berlin is dissatisfied with Tennet's level of investment, which is jeopardising Germany's ambition of pulling out of nuclear power by 2022. Handelsblatt said Roesler was planning to discuss the issue when he visits the Netherlands later this week. The economy ministry was not immediately available to comment. The newspaper said Berlin was looking to "turn the thumbscrews on Tennet" via regulatory measures, with the hope the Dutch firm will sell its share in the wind parks to German companies. Tennet needs to invest 15 billion euros in connecting the windparks to the German power grid but is unable to put up the money. By contrast, Munich Re and Allianz could easily do so, Handelsblatt reported. Germany is looking to expand its generating capacity from offshore wind parks to 10,000 Megawatt by 2020, compared with just a few hundred at present.