Masdar is reportedly poised to buy a minority stake in ScottishPower Renewables’ East Anglia THREE offshore wind project.
The Abu Dhabi-based renewables investor is in talks to acquire a 49% stake in the mammoth wind farm development off the east coast of England, and worth around 2 billion euros (£1.75bn) according to a report by Spanish daily Cinco Dias on Tuesday which cited unidentified sources.
Reached by Reuters, Iberdrola declined to comment on the report while Masdar said it was unable to comment on “market speculation”.
East Anglia THREE lies around 40 miles off Great Yarmouth coast and is one of three consented offshore wind projects that form part of ScottishPower Renewables’ 3.1-gigawatt (GW), £6.5bn East Anglia Hub.
The THREE scheme makes up around 1.4GW of total hub capacity, which will see up to 263 turbines spread across the three sites.
ScottishPower – a subsidiary of Spanish energy giant Iberdrola – broke ground on the project last summer.
Currently wholly owned by the company, the scheme was awarded government consent in 2017 and when operational is poised to be one of the largest offshore wind projects in the world. Completion is currently eyed for 2026.
SPR says its capacity is enough to power around 1.3 million homes and forms a “significant portion” of the government’s target for 50GW of offshore wind by 2030.
East Anglia ONE was completed in 2020, with SPR having sold a 40% stake in the scheme to Macquarie’s Green Investment Group for more than £1 billion.
Partially owned by the United Arab Emirates’ sovereign wealth fund Mubadala, Masdar has invested in a host of clean energy projects around the world. While its focus is largely emerging markets, it holds stakes in other UK wind farms including the London Array, Dudgeon and a minority share in the Hywind floating wind project off Aberdeenshire.
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