Finance Secured for £1.3 Billion Dudgeon Offshore Windfarm in U.K.

Written by Martin Lynch, European News Editor for Industrial Info (Galway, Ireland)--Financing amounting to £1.3 billion ($1.9 billion) has been secured for one of the U.K.'s largest offshore wind projects.

Abu Dhabi-owned green energy company Masdar and Norwegian companies Statoil ASA (OSE:STL) (Stavangar) and Statkraft AS (Oslo) have announced the financial close for the Dudgeon offshore windfarm. Located 32 kilometres (km) out to sea from the Norfolk coast in eastern England, the windfarm is under construction. It will have a capacity of 402 megawatts (MW) when it is commissioned in the second half of 2017, offsetting around 893,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide annually and powering an estimated 410,000 homes.

The project will use 67 turbines rated at 6 MW each from German engineering company Siemens AG (FWB:SIE) (Munich, Germany). Masdar, Statoil and Statkraft control stakes amounting to 35%, 35% and 30% respectively. Dudgeon is the first U.K. offshore wind project to obtain financing under the U.K. government's Contract for Difference (CfD) scheme, where projects are guaranteed a set price for electricity produced for an extended period of time.

"Closing such a significant phase of the project's development so swiftly illustrates the energy industry's confidence in the long-term potential of offshore wind and the increasing sophistication of financing models available to the sector," said Halfdan Brustad, chairman of Dudgeon Offshore Wind Limited. "It is also a testament to the project's commercial competitiveness, smooth execution, and the growing investor appetite for utility-scale renewable energy."

He added: "Dudgeon demonstrates the willingness of its developers to support the ongoing growth of the U.K. green economy. The project benefits the U.K.'s offshore wind industry; at least 70 local jobs are created directly in the operations phase, additional jobs during construction and indirectly in the supply chain. More than 50% of the construction cost is anticipated to be spent in the U.K. supply chain."

Industrial Info reported on Masdar buying its stake in the project in 2014, when it paid £525 million ($753 million). The company already owns a 20% stake in the 630-MW London Array project--the world's largest operational offshore windfarm. For additional information, see September 30, 2014, article--Masdar Buys £525 million Stake in U.K. Windfarm.

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