Greencoat acquiring stake in Humber Gateway wind farm

Greencoat UK Wind announced on Monday that it has agreed to acquire a 49% stake in the Humber Gateway offshore wind farm from RWE, in partnership with a number of pension funds investing through a fund also managed by Greencoat Capital.

The FTSE 250 company said it would acquire a net 38% stake in the wind farm for £500m, including cash and working capital, while the pension funds will acquire a net 11% for £148m, with the total cash consideration payable to RWE at completion being £648m.

RWE would continue to hold the remaining 51%.

Greencoat said Humber Gateway is located five miles off the Yorkshire coast, and is serviced from Grimsby in Lincolnshire.

The 219MW wind farm was commissioned in June 2015, and comprises 73 Vestas 3MW turbines.

It said the wind farm has a 45% load factor, and benefits from two renewables obligation certificates (ROCs) per MWh.

RWE would continue to provide operation and maintenance and management services to the wind farm, the company said, adding that a route-to-market power purchase agreement was in place.

Following completion, expected to be around the middle of December, the firm would have £1.1bn of outstanding debt, equating to 33% of its gross asset value.

“We are delighted to announce our investment in Humber Gateway, a high load factor, ROC-accredited offshore wind farm,” said Greencoat UK Wind chairman Shonaid Jemmett-Page.

“This transaction adds another attractive asset to our portfolio which will stand at 38 wind farm investments, with a generating capacity of 1.2GW.

“We are also very pleased to be able to play our part in the wider development of the wind industry, heralded by recent government announcements, and enabling the continued build out of further offshore generating capacity in the UK.”

Laurence Fumagalli of Greencoat Capital added that the investment was building on the relationship the company had with RWE since 2013.

“This will be the third investment we have made this year, and we continue to see an attractive pipeline of acquisition opportunities, both onshore and offshore, as we remain committed to our disciplined investment approach.”

At 9833 GMT, shares in Greencoat UK Wind were down 0.4% at 131.86p.