Ørsted Completes Divestment in Hornsea 1 Offshore Wind Farm

Danish offshore wind farm developer Orsted A/S has completed the divestment of 50% of the Hornsea 1 Offshore Wind Farm to Global Infrastructure Partners (GIP).

Three months ago, Ørsted signed an agreement to sell 50% of the 1,218MW offshore wind farm Hornsea 1 to Global Infrastructure Partners (GIP). Hornsea 1 is under construction and will be the world’s largest offshore wind farm when commissioned in 2020.

As part of the agreement, Ørsted will construct the wind farm under a full-scope EPC contract. Ørsted will also provide long-term operations and maintenance services from its O&M base in Grimsby and provide a route to market for the power generated by Hornsea 1.

Ole Kjems Sørensen, Executive Vice President for M&A, Partnerships and Asset Management at Ørsted, has said then: “This is our third partnership with GIP, and we are delighted to have one of the world’s largest infrastructure funds as a partner, in what will be the world’s largest offshore wind farm. The Hornsea 1 farm down is a landmark transaction which will create substantial value for our shareholders and reduce single asset exposure.”

The total sales price for Hornsea 1 comprises the price for the acquisition of a 50% ownership share and the commitment to fund 50% of the payments under the EPC contract for the entire wind farm (including the transmission assets). It amounts to approximately GBP 4.46 billion, which is to be paid between 2018 and 2020.

GIP will partially finance its acquisition using a multi-tranche financing package of more than GBP 3.5 billion, containing a mixture of investment grade-rated project bonds issued to a consortium of blue chip institutional debt investors with strong UK presence, commercial bank loans and mezzanine debt provided by the Danish pension fund PFA, with some tranches guaranteed by EKF, Denmark’s Export Credit Agency.

Today's press release said that the completion of divestment does not change Ørsted’s previous financial guidance for the financial year of 2018 or the announced expected investment level for 2018.