Ørsted Completes London Array Exit

Business & Finance

August 17, 2023, by Adrijana Buljan

Ørsted has completed the divestment of 25 per cent of the London Array offshore wind farm in the UK to funds managed by Schroders Greencoat. The company, which held a minority interest in the 630 MW offshore wind farm since 2014 and did not have operations and maintenance (O&M) responsibility on the project, said last month it considered the wind farm a non-strategic asset.

Ørsted announced the sale of the 25 per cent stake, valued at a total of GBP 717 million (approximately EUR 838 million), in July, after divesting an initial 25 per cent of its original 50 per cent ownership to Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec (CDPQ) back in 2014.

The remaining 50 per cent stake in London Array is owned by RWE (30 per cent) and Masdar (20 per cent).

Last month, Daniel Lerup, Ørsted’s Chief Financial Officer, said that with this divestment the company continued its track record of efficiently recycling capital to help fund its DKK 475 billion (approx. EUR 63.7 billion; GBP 54.5 billion) investment programme towards 2030.

“Ørsted remains committed to the UK offshore wind market and will continue to make significant investments in the country’s green transformation both onshore- and offshore”, Daniel Lerup said.

London Array, located over 20 kilometres off the Kent coast, comprises 175 Siemens Gamesa’s 3.6 MW wind turbines and is being operated and maintained by RWE from the Port of Ramsgate.

The 630 MW offshore wind farm, which has been in operation since 2013, is capable of generating enough clean electricity to power around half a million British households.