Octopus Energy’s generation arm has taken a stake in Walney Extension, an offshore wind farm located in the Irish Sea from Danish pension funds PKA and PFA.
Octopus Energy Generation, investing on behalf of its newly launched £3bn (€3.4bn) European offshore wind investment fund and the Sky fund, has bought a 12.5% share in the 660MW wind farm from AIP Management, the investment manager for PKA and PFA.
Financial details were not disclosed.
In 2017, PFA and PKA invested £2bn (€2.3bn) to acquire a 25% stake each in the then Walney Extension project from energy firm Ørsted. The Danish energy firm retains a 50% interest in the offshore wind farm.
The wind farm, made up of 87 turbines, located west of Barrow-in-Furness off the northwest coast in the UK, has been operational since 2018 and produces clean power for nearly 600,000 homes.
The deal marks the sixth offshore wind farm Octopus has invested in since last year. It has backed Hornsea One and Lincs in the UK as well as two offshore wind farms in the Netherlands and one in Germany recently.
Zoisa North-Bond, CEO of Octopus Energy Generation, said: “The future for offshore wind is here and now – and just this year, wind power overtook gas in Britain. The UK is already a world leader in offshore wind and we’re confident this secure and homegrown energy source will play an even bigger role in the country’s energy mix.
“We’re overjoyed to make this investment after we recently announced our Offshore Wind Fund, and we’ll continue to rapidly scale our offshore wind activity globally.”
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