RWE said on Wednesday it agreed to sell a 50 per cent stake in its Norfolk Vanguard West and East offshore wind projects to investor KKR. This occurred after the German utility emerged as one of the winners in a milestone British renewables auction.
No financial details were disclosed for the deal, which is expected to close in the summer. However, RWE said that both parties will, "assess opportunities to extend their collaboration to additional projects".
RWE and KKR will jointly develop, build and operate the wind farms. This is a model referred to as farming down that enables both project developers and financiers to split the steep bill for large offshore projects, which usually start at €1 billion.
Shares in RWE, Germany's biggest utility, were three per cent higher on the news. This made them the top gainers among blue chips in Frankfurt's benchmark DAX index.
RWE's Norfolk Vanguard East and West projects are located 50-80 miles (80-130 kilometres) off the British coast. They were awarded contracts by Britain, covering 3.1 gigawatts, and will be able to power around three million homes once operational.
The deal follows RWE's sale last year of a 49 per cent stake in two offshore wind farms in Denmark and Germany to Norway's sovereign wealth fund for €1.4 billion.
(Reporting by Christoph Steitz; Editing by Ludwig Burger)
