EDP and Engie sell part of their position in offshore wind farm in Scotland

Ocean Winds, a company jointly owned by EDP Renováveis and Engie, has agreed to sell 16.6% of the Moray East offshore wind farm, off Scotland, to a group of funds managed by Equitix Infrastructure Investment.

In a statement to the Portuguese Securities Market Commission (CMVM), EDP said on Monday that Ocean Winds' stake in the venture will be reduced from 56.6% to 40%. In addition to Equitix (16.6%), Diamond Green Limited (33.4%) and China Three Gorges (10%) will remain in the shareholder structure.

The Moray East wind farm is the largest in operation in Scotland, with a capacity of 950 megawatts (MW), distributed over 100 wind turbines of 9.5 MW each.

Connected to the grid since the end of 2021, this project is the result of the award of seabed rights to EDP Renováveis in 2010, and in 2017 it secured a contract for differences (CfD) guaranteeing a remuneration of 74.49 pounds per megawatt hour (MWh), equivalent to almost 86 euros at the current exchange rate.

According to EDP, the contract of sale to Equitix values the Moray East wind farm at a multiple of 3.6 million euros per MW.

In its statement to the CMVM, the Portuguese company also notes that "offshore investments for 2023-2026 will be mainly focused on Europe, with long-term revenues secured and indexed to inflation, contracted capex and long-term fixed-rate financing with debt maturity between 15 and 18 years".