GIG to acquire 40% of 714 MW offshore wind farm in UK
Macquarie’s Green Investment Group (GIG) has entered into an agreement to acquire a 40% stake worth GBP1.63 billion (US$1.96 billion) in the 714 MW East Anglia ONE offshore wind farm from ScottishPower Renewables (UK) Limited, a subsidiary company of the Iberdrola group. Iberdrola will maintain majority participation of 60% in the project.
GIG has secured debt financing from the market to assist in funding its investment.
East Anglia ONE development located 43km off the UK’s Suffolk coast. The project will comprise 102 Siemens Gamesa 7MW wind turbines, which when fully operational, will produce enough green electricity to power the equivalent of over 600,000 homes annually.
According to the terms of the operation, the valuation for 100% of East Anglia ONE amounts to about GBP 4 billion (USD 4.8 billion) and, by the time the park enters into operation in 2020, Iberdrola will have received around GBP 1.63 billion (USD 1.96 billion) for 40%. This amount will be used to finance the organic growth of the Iberdrola Group, contemplated in its 2018-2022 Strategic Perspectives.
Iberdrola’s ScottishPower Renewables has been developing East Anglia ONE for over 10 years. In 2015, the project was awarded a Contract for Difference by the UK Government, construction started in 2017 and the project’s first turbine was successfully installed in June 2019. Full commercial operations are expected to commence in summer 2020.
The development is supporting thousands of jobs throughout the supply chain and over 50% of all project investment will be spent in the UK. All 306 glass fibre turbine blades are being manufactured by Siemens Gamesa at its factory in Hull, while a number of the 90-meter-high towers are being produced by CSWind UK in Machrihanish, Scotland.
The acquisition reinforces GIG’s commitment to accelerating the UK’s energy transition and brings the total capacity of UK offshore wind supported by GIG to over 5.7 GW, across 14 projects - equivalent to almost 50% of the total UK offshore wind capacity in operations or construction.
