Partners Group, the global private markets investment manager, has agreed to acquire a 45% stake in Borssele III/IV (“Borssele”), a 731.5MW construction-ready offshore wind farm in the Netherlands, on behalf of its clients. The investment makes Partners Group the largest shareholder in a consortium of investors that also includes Shell, Diamond Generating Europe,1 Eneco Group and Van Oord.
Borssele will comprise 77 9.5MW Vestas turbines placed across two sites in the Borssele Wind Farm Zone, which is 22km off the coast of the province of Zeeland, at the southern border of the Netherlands’ Exclusive Economic Zone. Grid connectivity has already been secured for the project, which is due to begin construction in H2 2018. The wind farm will benefit from the Dutch offshore feed-in tariff for a period of 15+1 years from the commencement of commercial operations in early 2021. Once it is fully operational, Borssele is expected to generate about 3TWh per annum, enough electricity to power approximately 825,000 households.
David Daum, Senior Vice President, Private Infrastructure Europe, Partners Group, states: “Borssele is an attractive opportunity to invest in a high-quality offshore wind project alongside experienced partners. With the Dutch government committed to achieving 16% of its energy production from sustainable sources by 2023 as part of a National Renewable Energy Action Plan, we believe the project is both timely and critical in helping the country achieve that aim.”
Brandon Prater, Partner, Head Private Infrastructure Europe, Partners Group, adds: “Renewable energy continues to be a transformative trend within the infrastructure asset class and an important component in the future energy security of many countries. In wind energy alone, Partners Group has committed to invest in onshore and offshore projects totaling over 1.8GW in Europe, Asia and Australia since 2011.”
Previous onshore wind energy projects include the 240MW Ararat Wind Farm and 270MW Sapphire Wind Farm in Australia, into which Partners Group invested in June 2015 and December 2016, respectively. Most recently, in August 2016, Partners Group invested in the construction of Merkur Offshore, an approximately 400MW offshore wind farm in Germany.
