Masdar Buys £525 million Stake in U.K. Windfarm

Written by Martin Lynch, European News Editor for Industrial Info (Galway, Ireland)--Abu Dhabi-owned green energy company Masdar has announced it will buy a 35% stake in one of the U.K.'s leading planned offshore windfarms for £525 million ($861 million).

The news comes two months after Norwegian companies Statoil ASA (NYSE:STO) (Stavangar, Norway) and Statkraft AS (Oslo, Norway) agreed to go ahead with the £1.5 billion ($2.55 billion) project. For additional information, see July 17, 2014, article--Dudgeon Offshore Windfarm in U.K. Goes Ahead.

The deal will see Masdar join Statoil and Statkraft to build the 402-megawatt (MW) windfarm, located 32 kilometers (km) offshore, north of the town of Cromer in North Norfolk, and 20 km northeast of the existing Sheringham Shoal offshore windfarm. It will use 67 of Siemens' (NYSE:SI) (Munich, Germany) direct-drive wind turbines, each rated at 6 MW, and will be capable of supplying enough power for 410,000 homes when it is commissioned in 2017.

"As the only OPEC nation supplying both traditional and renewable energy to international markets, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) is committed to accelerating the use of wind energy as an effective means of balancing the global energy mix as we move toward a sustainable, low carbon future," said Sultan Al Jaber, chairman of Masdar.

Masdar already owns a 20% stake in the 630-MW London Array project -- the world's largest operational offshore windfarm.

"Combined with London Array, Dudgeon puts Masdar at the forefront of offshore wind development in the U.K.," said Al Jaber. "It will significantly contribute to the expansion of the U.K.'s renewable energy capacity. It also reinforces the UAE and the U.K.'s shared commitment to drive the growth of the renewable energy sector."

Dudgeon is one of five offshore wind projects that signed an early contract for difference (CfD) with the U.K. government -- the new support system for low-carbon power projects that guarantees investors a certain price for electricity generated over a fixed period.

U.K. Energy and Climate Change Secretary Ed Davey, said: "Masdar's investment is a strong endorsement of the U.K. as the best place in the world to invest in offshore wind -- and it shows the Government's plan for green growth is working. Since 2010 we have seen, on average, £7 billion a year invested in renewables and we expect to see up to £50 billion more between now and 2020."

View Project Report - 78000407 78000290

Industrial Info Resources (IIR), with global headquarters in Sugar Land, Texas, three offices in North America and 10 international offices, is the leading provider of global market intelligence specializing in the industrial process, heavy manufacturing and energy markets. Industrial Info's quality-assurance philosophy, the Living Forward Reporting Principle™, provides up-to-the-minute intelligence on what's happening now, while constantly keeping track of future opportunities.