Global wind project developer Ørsted has announced that it is selling a 50% ownership stake in a US portfolio to the investment group Energy Capital Partners.
The portfolio includes onshore wind farms Lincoln Land Wind, Plum Creek Wind, and Willow Creek Wind as well as the solar farm Muscle Shoals. The total capacity of the portfolio is 862MW.
Proceeds from the $410 million asset sale will be used to fund future projects as Ørsted aims to reach 50GW of installed renewable energy capacity globally by 2030.
Ørsted currently has a portfolio of over 5GW of onshore wind and solar PV projects in operation and under construction across the US and Europe.
“I’m excited about bringing in such a leading investor as ECP, who has a proven and established track record in power and renewables, for the first farm-down in our onshore business,” Ørsted onshore CEO Neil O’Donovan said.
The transaction was funded via a fund-of-one partnership, Renewable Power Fund Plus, between ECP and Teachers Insurance and Annuity Association of America, a US Fortune 100 insurance and financial services organization, along with debt financing from Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group.
Renewable Power Fund Plus now owns 50% of a newly established company holding the four projects. TIAA also owns global asset manager Nuveen and its subsidiary Glennmont Partners, who acquired 50% of Ørsted’s German offshore wind farm Borkum Riffgrund 3 in 2022.
This is not only Ørsted’s first farm-down of onshore assets, but also the first time Ørsted is divesting multiple assets in one transaction as part of its farm-down program.
