Banco Santander has acted as financial advisor in the operation and has described the operation as “historic”
Iberdrola has signed an agreement with Green Investment Group (GIG), of the Macquarie Group, for the sale of a 40% stake in the East Anglia One (EAO) offshore wind farm for 1,630 million pounds sterling, some 1,750 million euros.
As the power company informed the National Securities Market Commission (CNMV), with the entry of a new partner in this renewable installation located in the North Sea, Iberdrola will maintain a 60% majority stake.
According to the terms of the operation, the valuation for 100% of EAO amounts to about 4,100 million pounds (about 4,400 million euros) and by the time the park enters into operation in 2020 Iberdrola will have received 1,750 million GIG.
This amount will be used to finance the organic growth of the group, contemplated in its 2018-2022 Strategic Perspectives. The closing of the transaction is pending the usual authorization by The Crown State.
Banco Santander has acted as a financial advisor in the operation. A spokesman for the financial entity stressed to Servimedia that “it is a historical operation in renewable energy in the United Kingdom that demonstrates the advisory capabilities of Santander in the sector and the bank’s commitment to supporting green and renewable energy.”
In fact, he recalled that recently Banco Santander has announced that it aims to facilitate the mobilization of 120,000 million euros between 2019 and 2025 in green financing to help combat climate change.
East Anglia is one of the most relevant projects in the development of Iberdrola and the largest renewable project ever developed by a Spanish company. When it enters into operation in 2020, the park will be the largest in the world, with an installed capacity of 714 megawatts (MW), with which it will supply 600,000 British homes with clean energy.
Over the next few years, Iberdrola will redouble its commitment to offshore wind power, with the development of a project portfolio exceeding 10,000 MW. This growth will be articulated, fundamentally, around three axes: the North Sea, the Baltic Sea and the United States.
In this way, clean generation at sea will be a fundamental pillar of the company’s strategy, which expects to allocate 39% of the 34,000 million euros of investment contemplated for the 2018-2022 period: 13,260 million euros.
Currently, the group already has two offshore wind farms in operation: West of Duddon Sands, launched in 2014 in the North Sea, and Wikinger, in German waters of the Baltic Sea and in operation since December 2017.
In addition, in the United States Iberdrola is already promoting the largest large-scale offshore wind farm in the country: Vineyard Wind. Located off the coast of the state of Massachusetts, its 800 MW of power will be able to meet the energy needs of one million homes.
