The Irish Infrastructure Fund has acquired a controlling stake in a portfolio of wind farms from Viridian Group.

The fund, which was set up by Irish Life Investment Managers and is managed by international infrastructure fund managers AMP Capital, said the portfolio consists of 104 megawatt (MW) of capacity generated by 10 wind farms, eight of which are located in the Republic of Ireland.

The fund will hold a stake of at least 75 per cent across the portfolio of wind farms as a result of the transaction.

Viridian’s Energia business will retain the minority interest in the portfolio and will continue to manage the wind farms and to offtake substantially all of the electricity generated by them.

This is the first investment by the fund, which was set up to secure and invest up to €1 billion from global and Irish institutional investors for investment in Irish infrastructure assets.

"We are very pleased to announce the completion of the fund’s first investment. This is exactly the type of investment which the fund was designed for and we believe will be the first of many significant infrastructure investments," said Gerry Keenan, chief executive of Irish Life Investment Managers.

The National Pension Reserve Fund (NPRF) has committed a quarter of a billion euro to the fund, which is to invest in State assets that are up for sale, as well as new infrastructure products.