UK Green Investment Bank Financial Services
Limited (GIBFS) has today announced that it has executed a Second Close
on new commitments of £355m for the Offshore Wind Fund (the Fund), bringing
total committed capital to £818m and nearing its £1bn target. This makes
the GIBFS-managed fund the largest renewable energy fund in the UK.
Second close investors include Swedish life insurance and pension company
AMF Pensionsförsäkring AB (AMF) and Strathclyde Pension Fund. The Fund
represents their first investments in the UK offshore wind sector. Second
close investors join UK-based pension funds, a major sovereign wealth fund
and UK Green Investment Bank plc (GIB) in the partnership, which held an
initial close on £463m earlier this year.
The Fund is the first to be dedicated solely
to investments in offshore wind power generation globally and provides
long-term institutional investors with the opportunity to access the UK’s
green infrastructure sector.
The second close has been marked with the
acquisition by the fund of GIB’s option on a 10% stake in Gwynt
y Môr offshore wind farm. The
576 MW wind farm, located in Liverpool Bay, was officially inaugurated
in June of this year.
The Fund now has three assets; 90MW
Rhyl Flats, 317MW
Sheringham Shoal and Gwynt
y Môr. These three offshore
wind farms are able to produce 2,980 GWh of renewable energy annually,
enough to power more than 700,000 homes or all the homes in Northern Ireland.
On completion of the Gwynt
y Môr acquisition more than
half of the Fund’s capital will be invested in income-generating assets.
The transaction is expected to complete by the end of October.
Amber Rudd, Energy and Climate Change Secretary, said: "Offshore
wind has been a UK success story and I welcome this long-term, private
sector involvement in what is now the largest renewable energy fund in
the UK. This demonstrates how we are open for business and the best place
in the world to invest in offshore wind."
Shaun Kingsbury, Executive Chairman of the Board, UK Green Investment Bank
Financial Services Limited, and Chief Executive of the UK Green Investment
Bank plc, said: "We created the Offshore Wind Fund to provide
investors like pension funds, insurance companies and other asset managers
with access to a team of market-leading industry experts. We are delighted
to be working with investors of the calibre of AMF and Strathclyde Pension
Fund, each of whom are leading the way in their recognition of the business
value of investments in green infrastructure. This is a great way
to put infrastructure money to work in the UK, the world’s leading market
for offshore wind."
Evercore Private Funds Group is acting as advisor and exclusive global
placement agent for the fundraise and King & Wood Mallesons is acting
a legal counsel to the fund.
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