- Kansai buys 49% stake in Iberdrola’s Windanker project
- Windanker valued at ~EUR 1.28 billion (~USD 1.34bn)
- Japanese firms show appetite for European offshore wind
Japan’s Kansai Electric Power has signed a share purchase agreement with Iberdrola to buy a 49% stake in the 315 MW Windanker offshore wind project in Germany, marking the Japanese firms fifth offshore wind farm participation in Europe.
Windanker is located in the Baltic Sea and commercial operations are scheduled to begin by 2026.
“With this project as a starting point, Kansai aims to collaborate with Iberdrola on overseas projects in various fields, including renewable energy. Kansai will utilise the knowledge and experience obtained from this project to expand the offshore wind power projects in Japan and contribute to realizing a zero-carbon society,” the Japanese company said.
Details of the transaction were not disclosed, but Iberdrola said the offshore wind farm was valued at EUR 1.28 billion. The project has already sold 100% of its production to industrial customers through long-term contracts, the Spanish company said.
In October, Iberdrola closed the acquisition of 88% of electricity distributor Electricity North West (ENW) in the UK in a deal that valued 100% of the company, including debt, at ~EUR 5 billion. Kansai holds a 12% stake in ENW.
READ Iberdrola says ENW buy would make it UK’s second-largest power network operator
Kansai has around 1 GW of renewables capacity installed, according to its 2024 integrated report.
Through investment of a total YEN 1 trillion (~USD 6.5 billion) in domestic projects, the company aims to develop 5 GW scale of new development and to achieve 9 GW of cumulative renewables capacity by 2040.
Overseas, the company has a 16% stake in the RWE-led, 857 MW Triton Knoll offshore wind farm on the east coast of England and 30% share in Diamond Green Limited which holds a 33.4% stake in Moray East Holdings, the owner of the 952 MW Moray East offshore wind farm offshore Scotland.
READ BP, JERA agree up to $5.8bn funding in new London JV combining offshore wind units
In Germany, the company has a 3% stake in the Ørsted-led 913 MW Borkum Riffgrund 3 offshore wind farm project in the North Sea which is expected to be commissioned next year.
The company also has a 20% share of the 75 MW GoliatVIND floating offshore wind project in Norway which is expected to begin operations in 2028.
READ Consortium backed by Japan’s JERA and IKEA retailer wins Norway’s first offshore wind auction
Kansai’s acquisition illustrates that there is appetite from Japanese investors in Europe’s offshore wind sector which is facing challenges related to cost increases and supply chain issues.
Earlier in December, BP and JERA agreed up to USD 5.8 billion in capital funding for investments within a 50-50 joint venture, JERA Nex bp, which pulls together their respective offshore wind businesses targeting 13 GW of generation capacity.
READ Octopus Energy and Tokyo Gas team up in USD 3.7 billion offshore wind fund
In May 2023, Marubeni and Sumitomo Corporation announced that they plan to invest several billion pounds in the UK offshore wind sector. -AW
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