For a share in the 960MW He Dreiht offshore wind farm, a group consisting of Allianz Capital Partners, Norges Bank Investment Management (NBIM), and AIP has advanced to the second round of bidding.
According to sources, the consortium is one of several strategic and financial investors who are still in the race for a 49.9% stake in the German North Sea project that is being offered for sale by the German utility EnBW.
The second, binding bid round began earlier this month after non-binding offers were lodged in July.
While the Danish pension fund AIP has made a number of significant investments in European offshore wind, Allianz and NBIM are both relatively new entrants.
The 1.5GW Hollandse Kust Zuid project in the Netherlands, which Allianz purchased from BASF last year for a 25.2% interest, was the company’s first equity investment in offshore wind.
The sovereign wealth fund of Norway, NBIM, also recently made its first investment when it paid €1.3 billion to Orsted for a 50% holding in Borssele 1&2.
Project Razorbill, an EnBW initiative, saw the sale of He Dreiht shares throughout the summer.
EnBW is being advised on the sale by the French bank Societe Generale, and binding proposals for the shares are due in late November. The transaction is anticipated to close in March 2023.
The wind farm’s construction is scheduled to begin in 2024 and will have 64 Vestas V236-15.0 MW turbines. The project is anticipated to be fully commissioned in the first quarter of 2026.
EnBW’s trade division is currently offering to acquire power under a fixed purchase agreement for the first 15 years of operation from the anticipated €1.9 billion development.
Credit – re:News
