Renewables Infrastructure invests in German North Sea Wind – The Renewables Infrastructure Group has exchanged contracts to acquire a 25% indirect equity interest in Gode Wind 1, a 330MW offshore wind farm, located in the German North Sea. The project has established a strong track record since operations commenced in February 2017 and benefits from an attractive Feed-In Tariff. Following the completion of the transaction, Gode Wind 1 would represent approximately 8% of the portfolio.
The project was developed and constructed by Ørsted who will continue to own 50% of the equity in the Project and also provide Operations & Maintenance (“O&M”) services under a 20 year contract.
The farm comprises 55 Siemens Gamesa 6MW turbines. It is supported by a Feed-in-Tariff until November 2027, followed by a floor price for a further 10 years. The investment is being acquired from Global Infrastructure Partners (who are selling their 50% stake in the underlying project). The investment holding company has bond financing in place, paying a fixed rate of interest and fully amortising within the initial subsidy period. The underlying wind farm has no additional debt.
After this deal completes, the non-UK proportion of TRIG’s portfolio will be approximately 42%, including agreed commitments. The manager is actively pursuing a pipeline of opportunities within European markets including in offshore wind. Such opportunities are likely to be of significant scale and therefore will involve investing alongside co-investors. The manager is developing a network of potential co-investors for TRIG and in order to maintain a balanced and diversified portfolio, the company may sell down a portion of its larger non-UK investments to such investors.
TRIG : Renewables Infrastructure invests in German North Sea Wind