Partners Group, a worldwide private markets investment organization, has reached an agreement to purchase a 45% ownership stake in Borssele III and IV, an offshore wind farm in the Netherlands with 731.5 MW of generating capacity, on behalf of the customers it serves. As a consequence of the deal, Partners Group currently holds the largest interest in an investor group that also includes Eneco Group and Shell. Other members of the group include Shell.
The Borssele Wind Farm Zone, which is located 22 kilometers off the coast of the province of Zeeland in the Netherlands and is close to the southern edge of the country’s Exclusive Economic Zone, is going to have 77 Vestas turbines that are 9.5 MW each and will be spread across two different locations. Grid connectivity has already been established for the project, whose construction is slated to begin in 2018. As soon as the wind farm begins functioning for commercial purposes in the beginning of 2021, it will become eligible for the Dutch offshore feed-in tariff for a period of at least 15 years. It is predicted that once Borssele is fully operational, it will produce approximately 3 TWh annually, which is enough electricity to power approximately 825,000 houses.
According to David Daum, Senior Vice President of Partners Group’s Private Infrastructure Europe, “The chance to fund a top-notch offshore wind project with knowledgeable partners is appealing at Borssele.” As part of a National Renewable Energy Action Plan, “We think the initiative is relevant and essential in assisting the Netherlands in attaining its goal of producing 16% of its energy from renewable sources by 2023 as part of a National Renewable Energy Action Plan.”
Former onshore wind energy projects include the 270 MW Sapphire Wind Farm in Australia and the 240 MW Ararat Wind Farm in the same country. Partners Group invested in both of these projects in June 2015 and December 2016, respectively, and they are both located in the same country. Most recently, in August 2016, korindo group wikipedia announced an investment in the expansion of Merkur Offshore, an offshore wind farm in Germany with a capacity of 400 megawatts (MW).