Irish investor Greencoat Renewables has agreed to acquire 50% of the 312MW Borkum Riffgrund 1 offshore wind farm in Germany from Kirkbi (31.5%) and William Demant Invest (18.5%) for a total cash consideration of around €350 million.
Kirkbi and William Demant have held their combined 50% share since 2012. The project was initially jointly owned by Ørsted and PNE Wind, but Ørsted acquired PNE's 50% share in 2009.
Subject to regulatory clearance, the transaction is expected to close in the second quarter of 2022.
Project developer Ørsted remains a 50% shareholder and will continue to provide operation and maintenance and management services to the wind farm under a long-term contract.
Bertrand Gautier, investment manager at Greencoat Renewables, said the acquisition strengthened his company’s partnership with Ørsted and would position it well for future acquisitions in the European offshore sector.
“This acquisition will contribute to Greencoat Renewables’ strategy to build a diversified portfolio of high-quality renewable electricity generation assets supported by strong contracted cash flows and will support the company’s further expansion into continental Europe,” he said.
“We believe that offshore wind is key in allowing governments to reach their decarbonisation objectives and we see a 63GW investment opportunity across our selected jurisdictions by 2030,” Gautier added.
The Dublin-based investor launched a placing last month, under an existing €400 million share issuance programme launched in early October. It said proceeds from the fundraise would go towards near-term investment opportunities in Ireland and continental European markets.
Borkum Riffgrund 1 is located in Germany’s exclusive economic zone in the North Sea. It uses 78 SGRE 4MW turbines and has been in operation since 2015.
The project benefits from a fixed-price contract for difference (CfD) until September 2024. After this period, it will receive a government-backed floor price for the electricity sold until May 2035.
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