Danish power company Ørsted has agreed with Brookfield Renewable to acquire its Ireland and UK onshore wind business Brookfield Renewable Ireland (BRI).
Under the terms of the agreement, the company will acquire BRI for a total consideration of €571m, based on an enterprise valuation as of 31 December 2020, subject to adjustments.
BRI is a developer, owner, and operator of onshore wind farms with a portfolio of 389MW in operation and under construction, 149MW in advanced development, and over 1GW of development pipeline in Ireland and the UK.
Ørsted onshore business unit CEO Declan Flanagan said: “We’re excited to acquire BRI, which has a strong strategic and operational fit to Ørsted combined with what we believe to be very complementary business cultures.
“We’ve learned that, like Ørsted, the BRI team is ambitious, prioritise safety and quality, and strive to be a good neighbour in the communities they operate in. The Irish and UK onshore markets offer attractive fundamentals, projects at scale, and value creation through a mix of development projects and repowering opportunities.
“Furthermore, we can leverage the BRI team’s market-leading offtake capabilities within trading and corporate PPAs with direct synergies to Ørsted’s existing efforts in the UK.”
The acquisition, which is planned to close by the second quarter of 2021, is anticipated to enable Ørsted to enter into the European onshore market.
Upon closing, existing BRI management team will continue the business, which will be integrated into Ørsted’s Onshore business unit.
After foraying into onshore renewables business in 2018, Ørsted currently has an operating and in construction portfolio of 4GW of wind and solar and a few projects in pipeline.
Ørsted group president and CEO Mads Nipper said: “In the US, we’ve built a strong onshore business with 4 GW in operation and under construction.
“The European market for onshore wind power is expected to grow significantly in the coming years, and with the acquisition of BRI, we get a strong platform that expands our presence in onshore renewables to Europe, allowing us to continue our successful expansion of our onshore renewables business.”
In March, Ørsted has announced the start of the full-scale offshore construction activities at the 900MW Greater Changhua 1 and 2a offshore wind farms in Taiwan.
