Ørsted Divests Stake in U.S. Renewable Projects to Support Growth

Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--Ørsted A/S (Fredericia, Denmark) announced Friday it has sold a 50% stake in an 862-megawatt (MW) renewable energy portfolio consisting of three onshore windfarms and one solar plant in the U.S. for $410 million, injecting capital into the company as it continues to develop renewable energy projects. Industrial Info is tracking $6.2 billion worth of renewable energy projects from Ørsted and its subsidiaries in the U.S. that have a high or medium (70-99%) probability of moving forward as planned, including six onshore solar and wind projects worth $1.85 billion.

"The transaction successfully recycles a material amount of capital that will support Ørsted's ambition to reach 50 GW [gigawatts] of installed renewable energy capacity globally by 2030," according to a related press release. Neil O'Donovan, chief executive officer of Ørsted, added: "Our ability to raise capital will fuel our continued onshore growth."

The sale to Energy Capital Partners (Summit, New Jersey) includes stakes in the Lincoln Land Windfarm in Illinois; Plum Creek Windfarm in Nebraska; Willow Creek Wind facility in South Dakota; and Muscle Shoals Solar Farm in Alabama, all of which are operational and have power purchase agreements (PPA) in place for generating capacity. Ørsted acquired the Muscle Shoals plant in 2020, and the facility is located in Tennessee Valley Authority's (TVA) (Knoxville, Tennessee) service area. Subscribers to Industrial Info's Global Market Intelligence (GMI) Power project and plant databases can click here for the related project reports, and click here for the plant profiles.

Ørsted said it will be the managing member of the partnership and will continue to provide asset management services to the projects.

Among the entities off-taking power from those facilities are the TVA, Facebook parent Meta Platforms Incorporated (NASDAQ:META) (Menlo Park, California) and major food and beverage manufacturer The J.M. Smucker Company (NYSE:SJM) (Orrville, Ohio).

Ørsted is at work on constructing a $400 million solar center addition at the Helena Energy Center in Beeville, Texas, northwest of Corpus Christi. The facility plans to utilize 775,000 photovoltaic (PV) panels to reach 250 MW of solar generation. The completion is expected in May 2023. The company is analyzing another solar project in Texas: the $372 million Grasshopper Solar Facility in Weinert, which would reach a generating capacity of 310 MW. Subscribers can see reports for the solar facilities in Beeville and Weinert.

The company plans to kick off the construction of two wind projects next year: the 199.5-MW $350 million Sunflower Windfarm in Marion, Kansas, northeast of Wichita, in March, and when complete, a 60-MW unit addition. The windfarm would utilize turbines provided by General Electric (NYSE:GE) (Boston, Massachusetts). Click here for the project reports.

Subscribers to Industrial Info's GMI Project Database can click here for a full list of detailed reports for projects mentioned in this article, and click here for a full list of related plant profiles.

Subscribers can click here for a full list of reports on U.S. onshore renewable energy projects from Ørsted and its subsidiaries.

Industrial Info Resources (IIR) is the leading provider of industrial market intelligence. Since 1983, IIR has provided comprehensive research, news and analysis on the industrial process, manufacturing and energy related industries. IIR's Global Market Intelligence (GMI) helps companies identify and pursue trends across multiple markets with access to real, qualified and validated plant and project opportunities. Across the world, IIR is tracking over 200,000 current and future projects worth $17.8 Trillion (USD).