RWE and Norges Bank Investment Management (NBIM) have closed a transaction worth approximately EUR 1.4 billion, through which NBIM has acquired a 49 per cent equity stake in RWE’s Thor and Nordseecluster offshore wind projects in Denmark and Germany, respectively.
The developer and NBIM, which manages the international investments of the Norwegian sovereign wealth fund, announced the acquisition in March.
With a 51 per cent stake, RWE remains in charge of construction and operations throughout the lifecycle of the offshore wind farms.
The 1.6 GW Nordseecluster project in Germany, located some 50 kilometres north of the island of Juist, is being built in two phases.
The first phase, Nordseecluster A (660 MW), is already under construction with seabed preparation underway and foundation installation work set to begin this summer. The installation of wind turbines is scheduled to start in 2026. The second phase, the 900 MW Nordseecluster B, is expected to be built and fully commissioned by 2029.
Construction of the Thor offshore wind farm in Denmark, located approximately 22 kilometres off the west coast of Jutland, started this spring with the first monopiles installed in April. Wind turbine installation at the Thor project site is also scheduled for 2026.
With a total capacity of 1,080 MW, Thor will become Denmark’s largest offshore wind farm once fully commissioned in 2027.
The two projects developed by RWE are not the first in NBIM’s offshore wind project portfolio.
In 2021, the manager of Norway’s sovereign wealth fund acquired its first offshore wind project ownership by buying a 50 per cent stake in the Borssele 1 & 2 offshore wind farm in the Netherlands, built and operated by Ørsted.
In June last year, NBIM entered into an agreement with a consortium made up of investment funds belonging to Australia-headquartered Macquarie Asset Management and Spring Infrastructure Capital for a 37.5 per cent stake in the 573 MW Race Bank offshore wind farm in the UK.