Greencoat UK Wind has agreed with Global Infrastructure Partners (GIP) to acquire a 12.5% stake in Hornsea 1 offshore wind farm for a total consideration of around £400m.
The offshore wind project is located 80 miles (129km) off the UK’s Yorkshire coast, within the Hornsea Zone in the southern North Sea.
Hornsea 1 is a 50-50 joint venture between Danish power company Orsted, and GIP, where GIP’s 50% stake is partly funded by £2.9bn of limited recourse debt.
With 174 Siemens 7MW turbines and a grid export capacity of 1,200MW, Hornsea 1 is said to be the world’s first offshore wind farm with more than 1GW capacity.
The offshore wind fam has become fully operational in December 2019, and benefits from a 15-year CFD at a price of £175.25/MWh.
Greencoat UK Wind intends to fund the transaction, which is expected to be closed in the third quarter of 2022, from its existing cash flow and a revolving credit facility.
Upon closing of the transaction, Orsted will continue to deliver operation, maintenance and management services to the wind farm.
Greencoat UK Wind chairman Shonaid Jemmett-Page said: “As the leading independent UK wind farm owner, we are pleased to announce our investment into the world’s largest offshore wind farm.
“Hornsea 1 has a high load factor and high CFD price which complements our subsidy free investments. This transaction, once completed, will add another high-quality operating asset to our portfolio and increase our net generating capacity to over 1.6GW.
“We continue to see an attractive pipeline of projects, both onshore and offshore, and given the size and scale that the Company has attained over recent years, we remain strongly positioned to deliver more value-accretive acquisitions and extend our track record of strong shareholder returns.”
Greencoat UK Wind is a renewable infrastructure fund managed by Greencoat Capital that has invested in 45 operating UK wind farms with net generating capacity of 1,610MW.
Greencoat Capital is a renewable investment manager with more than £7bn of assets under management.
