Canada's Northland Power buys Spanish wind farms and solar park

MADRID (Reuters) -Northland Power has made its first foray into Spain's fast-growing renewable energy generation market with a deal to buy a portfolio of wind farms and solar parks, the Canadian company said on Wednesday.

A wave of global targets to cut carbon emissions are stoking investor interest in renewable energy businesses, and Spain's sunny plains, windy hillsides and political enthusiasm for the sector have made it a focus for the market in Europe.

Northland Power said in a statement it will pay 345 million euros ($413.3 million) in cash for the assets, which are located across Spain, and take on 716 million euros in debt.

The seller is an investment fund set up by asset manager Plenium and Bankinter.

Santander advised Northland on the transaction, a spokesman for the bank said.

The solar and wind parks in question were built under a previous regulatory regime, which fixes the returns the owners receive for their output for an average of 13 years across the portfolio. ($1 = 0.8347 euros)

(Reporting by Isla Binnie; Editing by Aurora Ellis and Alistair Bell)