DONG Energy sells half of its stake in London Array wind farm

The energy group has sold 25% of its 50% share in the project to Canadian financial institution, La Caisse, for £644m, which DONG says is part of its plans to “extract part of the value creation from our projects” and secure its future.

Once finalised, La Caisse will enter the existing joint venture with a 25% ownership share alongside DONG Energy’s 25%, E.ON’s 30% and Masdar’s 20%.

DONG Energy Wind Power executive vice president Samuel Leupold said: “Farm down of our ownership shares in wind projects is a central part of our business model and our strategy is to continuously enter into partnership agreements with industrial and financial partners to extract part of the value creation from our projects, share the risk in our portfolio and attract capital to be able to continue to invest in new offshore wind farms”.

The transaction is expected to be completed in the first half of 2014. Following completion of the deal, DONG Energy’s 25% share in the project will represent 157.5 MW.

The London Array, the World’s largest offshore wind farm, is located around 20km off the coasts of Kent and Essex on a 245km2 site. It covers an area of 90km2 and includes 175 turbines with a combined capacity of 630MW.

The Prime Minister David Cameron, Secretary of State Edward Davey and Minister Greg Barker officially opened the array in July 2013. 

Leigh Stringer