Japan’s INPEX Buys Stakes in Dutch Offshore Wind Farms

INPEX Corporation has agreed to enter a stock transfer agreement with Diamond Generating Europe B.V. (DGE-NL), a Dutch-registered, wholly-owned second generation subsidiary of Mitsubishi Corporation, and acquire a 50 per cent stake in the Luchterduinen offshore wind farm and a 15 per cent stake in the Borssele III/IV offshore wind farm operating off the coast of the Netherlands.

This agreement was made through INPEX Renewable Energy Europe Limited, newly established in the United Kingdom with the aim of promoting INPEX’s renewable energy business in Europe.

The completion of the agreement is subject to the fulfillment of conditions precedent determined by the stock transfer agreement including approvals by Dutch authorities and others, the Japanese energy exploration and production company said.

The Luchterduinen offshore wind farm is located 23 kilometers offshore Noordwijk and has been in commercial operation since September 2015 with an output scale of 129 MW produced by 43 3-MW units.

Following the completion of the transaction, the wind farm will be owned by Eneco (50 per cent), and INPEX (50 per cent).

The Borssele III/IV offshore wind farm is located 22 kilometers off the coast of Westkapelle and has been in commercial operation since January 2021 with an output scale of 731.5 MW produced by 77 9.5-MW units.

The new ownership of the wind farm will be, if the transaction is successful, Partners Group (45 per cent), Shell (20 per cent), INPEX (15 per cent), Van Oord (10 per cent), and Eneco (10 per cent).

INPEX plans to further accelerate initiatives aimed at its offshore wind power generation business, which makes use of the company’s experience in constructing and operating offshore floating facilities gained at overseas worksites. Through the acquisition of these assets, INPEX will actively work on further reforming the energy structure towards the realization of a net-zero carbon society in 2050, the company said.

While the impact of this acquisition on INPEX’s consolidated financial results for the current fiscal year is expected to be minimal, the acquisition is expected to contribute to the company’s consolidated financial performance over the medium- to long-term.