Brookfield Acquires Stake In UK Offshore Wind Farms

Brookfield Asset Management acquired a 12.45% stake in four of Orsted's U.K.-based offshore wind farms, valued at $2.3 billion. This new clean energy investment is added to the portfolio in Hornsea 1, Hornsea 2, Walney Extension, and Burbo Bank Extension, each producing 3.5 GW of renewable energy.

As part of Brookfield's broader clean energy play, the firm has also followed several other big recent deals such as its $6.6 billion investment in France's Neoen, $2.8 billion acquisition of Duke Energy's renewables business, and Scout Clean Energy and Banks Renewables. Brookfield Infrastructure Fund V is financing the acquisition of Ørsted through Brookfield Renewable Partners.

It's an important part of the mix to help support the UK's renewable energy goals, and there's a strong demand for clean energy," said Connor Teskey, CEO of Brookfield Renewable. This is Brookfield's first foray into U.K. offshore wind, a sector it considers critical to the nation's energy mix and decarbonization efforts.

That is, the agreement gave Ørsted a residual interest of 37.55% and will enable the company to remain responsible for the development, operating, and maintaining the offshore wind farms. The option will also carry a pre-agreed right to Brookfield to buy back assets for Orsted between the end of the two-to-seven-year holding period starting with the closure of the transaction. Orsted's CEO, Mads Nipper, claimed the transaction follows the course of the firm's onshore farm-down program so as to utilize the proceeds of the current transaction and inject them to new endeavors supporting the development strategy for Orsted.