Offshore wind
Announcements prior to September 2017, including this announcement, occurred under previous ownership.
13 October 2015
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 in the world to be dedicated solely to investments in offshore wind power generation 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 (see notes). 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.
Amber Rudd
Energy and Climate Change Secretary
Shaun Kingsbury
Executive Chairman of the Board, UK Green Investment Bank Financial Services Limited, and Chief Executive of the UK Green Investment Bank plc
Karl smith
Fund Managing Director, UK Green Investment Bank Financial Services Limited
Peder Hasslev
Chief Investment Officer, AMF
Councillor Paul Rooney
Chair, Strathclyde Pension Fund
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.
Media enquiries
Mikael Lindh Hök, AMF: mikael.lindh-hok@amf.se / +46 8 696 34 11
Colin MacKenzie, on behalf of Strathclyde Pension Fund: colin.mackenzie@glasgow.gov.uk / 0141 287 0930
About AMF
AMF is a limited liability life insurance company that is owned equally by the Swedish Trade Union Confederation (LO) and the Confederation of Swedish Enterprise. The company is run according to mutual principles, entailing that AMF's profits accrue in their entirety to the customers. With approximately SEK 550 billion in assets managed for nearly 4 million customers, AMF is one of Sweden's leading pension companies and one of the largest owners on Nasdaq OMX Nordic Stockholm.
About Strathclyde Pension Fund
The £14bn Strathclyde Pension Fund is one of the UK’s largest, providing services to around 200,000 people across the public, private and third sectors. It is part of the Scottish Local Government Pension Scheme and is administered by Glasgow City Council.
Fund assets
Rhyl Flats. A 90 MW, 25 turbine wind farm operated by RWE Innogy UK off the coast of North Wales. It has been operational since December 2009. GIB has sold its full 24.95% equity stake in the project to the Fund.
Sheringham Shoal. A 317 MW, 88 turbine wind farm operated by Statkraft and located in the Greater Wash area off the coast of Norfolk. It has been operational since October 2012. GIB has sold its full 20% equity stake in the project to the Fund.
Gwynt y Môr. A 576 MW, 160 turbine wind farm operated by RWE Innogy UK located off the coast of North Wales. It is the second-largest operating offshore wind farm in the world and has been operational since June 2015. The Fund has acquired from GIB an unconditional right to acquire a 10% equity stake in the project. That transaction is expected to complete by the end of October.
Addendum: The Fund completed the acquisition of a 10% stake in Gwynt y Môr offshore wind farm on 30 October 2015.