Statkraft sells stake in Sheringham Shoal wind farm offshore UK to Equitix

Energy acquisition news : Statkraft, a hydropower company owned by the Norway government, has reached a deal worth £558 million to divest its 40% stake in the 316.8MW Sheringham Shoal offshore wind project in the United Kingdom to Equitix, a London-based private equity firm.

The Sheringham Shoal wind farm, which broke ground in 2009, is located near the coast of NorthNorfolk at Sheringham, in the Greater Wash area of the UK North Sea. It is believed to have been developed at a cost of around $1.8 billion.

This offshore UK wind farm has been generating power from October 2012.

Norway-based oil and gas major Statoil has been the operator of the Sheringham Shoal wind farm with an ownership stake of 40%. The remaining stake of 20% in the UK offshore wind project is owned by Green Investment Group Management.

Sheringham Shoal wind farm offshore UK in the North Sea. Photo courtesy of Sheringham Shoal.

Statkraft says that the transaction with Equitix regarding the Sheringham Shoal offshore wind farm aligns with the company’s strategy to stop investing in new offshore wind projects and to divest existing holdings in offshore wind farms.

The sale of Statkraft’s ownership interest in the Sheringham Shoal wind farm is slated to be completed in Q4 2017.

Powered by 88 wind turbines, the Sheringham Shoal wind farm can generate around 1.1TWh of clean electricity per annum that can meet the power consumption needs of about 220,000 British homes.

Each of the 88 offshore wind turbines at the UK offshore wind project is of 3.6MW capacity. Siemens Wind Power had manufactured the offshore wind turbines which have a turbine blade length of 170 feet and a turbine tower height of 262 feet.

Sheringham Shoal wind farm, which spans across an area of 35 square kilometers, has been estimated to reduce nearly 500,000 tonnes of carbon emissions per annum that would have been otherwise emitted by a conventional power plant of the same capacity.

The UK offshore wind project was originally developed by Econventures and SLP Energy through their joint venture known as Scira Offshore Energy.

Statkraft entered into the Sheringham Shoal wind farm in 2013 by taking over both its operations and maintenance from Scira Offshore Energy. About four years later, Statoil took over operatorship of the UK offshore wind project from Statkraft.