Aviva Investors is investing £400m (€450.8m) to help build the Hornsea 1 offshore wind farm project in the UK.
In September, Danish energy firm Ørsted (formerly DONG Energy) agreed to sell 50% of the 1,218MW offshore wind farm to Global Infrastructure Partners (GIP) in a £4.46bn deal.
As part of the deal GIP will partially finance its acquisition using a multi-tranche financing package of more than £3.5bn, containing a mixture of investment grade-rated project bonds.
Aviva said its infrastructure debt and structured finance teams have invested £400m in fixed-rate and inflation-linked bonds.
Hornsea 1, currently under construction, will be the world’s largest offshore wind farm when commissioned in 2020, almost double that of the current largest offshore windfarm, Walney Extension offshore windfarm. In November last year, Aviva also invested £165m in the Walney project in the UK.
Darryl Murphy, the head of infrastructure debt at Aviva Investors, said: “We are delighted to have participated in the Hornsea 1 financing, which is a transformational deal for the European renewables market.
“We continue to have strong appetite for future investments within this sector, seeking opportunities that meet our clients’ investment requirements.”
Kunal Patel, the head of partnerships and structured solutions at Orsted said: “The Hornsea 1 farm down is a landmark transaction for the market and demonstrates the continued trust of blue chip institutions to invest in our projects.”
