Brookfield Acquires 12.45% Stake in Ørsted's Four Offshore Wind Farms

In short: Brookfield acquires a share in renowned Ørsted's offshore wind farms, making a significant move into the UK wind energy industry, aligning with its renewable energy expansion. 

Brookfield Acquires 12.45% Stake in Ørsted's Four Offshore Wind Farms

Brookfield has made a significant entry into the UK wind energy market by purchasing a 12.45% stake in four operational offshore wind farms of  Ørsted, a prominent offshore wind energy company based in Denmark, as of 2024 ⸺ Hornsey 1, Hornsey 2, Walney Extension, and Barbo Bank Extension, with a combined capacity of 3.5 GW, making them the largest offshore wind farms in the world of Ørsted.

The largest closed-end infrastructure fund in the world, Brookfield Infrastructure Fund V, is undermanaged the plan, which is anticipated to be completed by the end of 2024 subject to standard regulatory clearances. According to the agreements, the agreement states that Ørsted will fully manage, operate, and maintain the wind farms in addition to owning 37.55% of the four properties.

Marking another step in Brookfield's expansion into the offshore wind sector, this is a mature technology whose generation profile complements solar PV and onshore wind.

Mads Nipper, Group President and CEO of Ørsted stated, “We are delighted to welcome Brookfield, a leading renewable energy investor with proven investment and operational expertise, as a partner in four UK offshore wind farms in one of Ørsted's key strategic markets. Today's transaction is an important milestone in the farm-down program as part of our business plan that will support our significant reinvestment in new assets."

Conor Teskey

Conor Teskey, a 36 years old rising star CEO of Brookfield Renewables and President of Brookfield Asset Management, pointed: “We are delighted to be partnering with Ørsted to invest in four high-quality assets that are serving as important milestones in the UK's renewable energy supply and supporting the country's decarbonization."

The objective is Brookfield's first investment in UK offshore wind, which will be an important part of the energy mix and support the growing demand for clean energy.

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Danish multinational energy company, Ørsted

Ørsted, the UK's leading offshore wind developer, currently operates more than 5 GW of offshore wind capacity and has a further 5 GW under construction or development, including the Hornsea 3 and Hornsea 4 projects, which have secured CFDs. Globally, Ørsted has installed 15.4 GW of renewable energy across offshore wind, onshore wind, solar PV, and battery storage, with a further 7.7 GW under construction.

Brookfield Renewable Corporation

Brookfield Renewables is one of the world's largest publicly traded platforms for renewable energy and decarbonization solutions. Working on five continents in hydropower, wind, solar, distributed energy, and sustainable solutions.

1.  Hornsea 2 Offshore Wind Farm 

Hornsea 2 holds the title of the world’s largest offshore wind farm, with an impressive 1.4 gigawatts of capacity. Located 89km off the Yorkshire coast in the North Sea, near Hornsea 1 and around 55 miles east of the Port of Grimsby, it generates enough renewable energy to power more than 1 million homes in the UK.

The farm is recognized by the Guinness Book of Records as the world’s largest offshore wind farm. Hornsea 2 is being developed and operated by Danish energy company Oersted.

The wind farm consists of 165 turbines supplied by Siemens Gamesa, each rated at 8 MW, with 81-metre-long blades delivering 20 percent more annual energy output than Hornsea 1, with a single turbine rotation generating enough electricity to power a UK home for 24 hours. The great thing is that these turbines include Ørsted’s 1,000th installed unit and have 380 km of export cable, equivalent to the distance between Grimsby and Amsterdam.

Hornsea 1 Offshore Wind Farm

Hornsea 1, a wind farm generating enough green energy to power 1 million UK homes, is the third largest wind farm in the world after Hornsea 2, one of 12 operational offshore wind farms in the UK, covering an area five times the size of Blundell Park, home ground of Grimsby Town FC, or 58,000 times the size of Hull. Features 174 turbines, rated at 7 MW, standing at 190 meters tall where a single rotation can generate enough energy to power a UK home for a day.

Owned by Danish energy company Ørsted, Hornsea 1 represents a huge investment and significant workforce commitment, with 8,000 people involved in construction. The billion-dollar project prioritizes safety and on-time completion despite challenging conditions.

Walney Offshore Wind Farm

Walney Offshore Wind Farm, United Kingdom

Located in the Irish Sea off the coast of England, the 659 MW Walney Offshore Wind Farm is one of the UK’s most impressive offshore wind projects. It is set to become the 10th largest offshore wind project in 2024, underscoring its significant contribution to clean energy, and renewable energy, powering millions of homes in the UK.

The wind farm consists of 40 turbines, each with a significant nameplate capacity of 8.25 MW, using state-of-the-art Vestas Offshore Wind V164-8.0 technology. The Walney Wind Farm is owned by the following key stakeholders: Ørsted owns 50.1% of the shares, PGGM owns 25% and SSE Renewables controls the remaining 25%.

Development began in 2011 with Walney 1, with a capacity of 183.6 MW, comprising 51 Siemens SWT-3.6-107 turbines, each rated at 3.6 MW.
Walney 2, which came online in 2011, mirrored this capacity with 51 Siemens SWT-3.6-120 turbines. The final and most significant phase, known as the Walney Extension, increased the total capacity to 659 MW, comprising 40 MHI-Vestas turbines rated at 8.25 MW and 47 Siemens Gamesa turbines, each rated at 7 MW.
Also interesting here, Ørsted’s Walney Offshore Wind Farm is the company’s 11th operational offshore wind farm in the UK.

Burbo Bank Offshore Wind Farm

The Burbo Bank Offshore Wind Farm, with a capacity of 348 MW, is located on the Burbo Flats in Liverpool Bay on the west coast, of the Irish Sea, UK. It features 35 Vestal V164- 8.0 MW wind turbines, the biggest turbine in the world, with a hub height of 150 meters, and standing water deep 3.5 to 17 meters.

This wind farm is capable of supplying 230,000 UK homes. It generated nearly 150 green jobs in the construction period and developed 75 full-time UK jobs in the operation phase.