Offshore galore! Wind farms go on the block as valuations spike

FRANKFURT (Reuters) – European utilities are offering a slew of offshore wind farms, eager to cash in on high valuations as investors hungry for stable returns increasingly flock to the sector, people close to the matter said.

Demand for such assets has surged as environmentally-conscious investors and industries such as oil and gas seek green power in order to meet goals to achieve net zero emissions in line with the 2015 Paris climate agreement.

Denmark’s Orsted, Switzerland’s Axpo, Germany’s EnBW and Sweden’s Vattenfall are all marketing offshore wind assets that are either at project stage or completed, four people familiar with the matter said.

Specialised infrastructure investors including FSI, Equitix, PGGM, APG, MIRA, Omers, Glennmont, IFM, CDPQ, Omers, Ardian, as well as oil majors are being targeted in the various auctions, the people said.

“There is a massive influx of capital and it is driven by pension funds and insurance companies,” said Mortimer Menzel, partner at Augusta & Co, which specialises in renewables deal advisory.

“It drives utilities to recycle their assets because, quite frankly, they’re getting a higher price today than they did last year and the window won’t be open forever,” he said, adding there was a huge scarcity of assets at the moment.

For utilities, selling stakes in farms or projects is part of their strategy to get these assets, which usually require spending of at last 1 billion euros ($1.2 billion) apiece, off the ground.

ROO.AI Oil and Gas Field Service Software

Orsted, the world’s No.1 developer of offshore wind farms, is in talks to sell part of its 900 megawatt (MW) Borkum Riffgrund 3 project to an investor in a deal worth up to 2 billion euros, the people said.

Glennmont Partners has been seen in pole position as a buyer but talks have not yet been finalised, they added.

Meantime, Axpo has already kicked off the sale of its 24.1% stake in the 400 MW Global Tech I farm, located about 100 kms (62 miles) off Germany’s North Sea coast, the people said.

Axpo has already approached potential buyers including owners of adjacent wind parks like APG and Macquarie as well as EnBW, which may be able to reap synergies from a potential combination, one of the people added.

Other investors in Global Tech I, which entered operation in 2015 and produces enough electricity to supply about 450,000 households, have also signalled their willingness to exit, and a buyer could get a majority in the business, the people said.

Orsted, Glennmont and Axpo declined to comment.