Japanese Company to Acquire Stake in Dutch Nature-Inclusive Offshore Wind Farm

Business & Finance

February 2, 2024, by Adrijana Buljan

Eneco and Chubu Electric Power have signed an agreement that will see the Japanese company acquiring a 30 per cent stake in Ecowende, a joint venture between Eneco and Shell that is developing a large-scale offshore wind farm at the Hollandse Kust West Site VI in the Netherlands.

In the Ecowende joint venture, Eneco holds 40 per cent of the shares and will keep 10 per cent once the transaction with Chubu is closed, which is expected in the second quarter of 2024, once all the necessary approvals have been obtained from the relevant parties, including the competition authorities.

Following the completion of the transaction, 60 per cent of Ecowende will be owned by Shell, 30 per cent by Chubu Electric Power, and 10 per cent by Eneco.

Eneco says it intends to invest the proceeds from the sale in other renewable energy projects.

The Japanese energy company is one of the shareholders of Eneco and currently holds a 20 per cent stake in the Dutch renewable energy developer, with the remaining shares in Eneco held by Mitsubishi Corporation.

For Chubu Electric Power, the acquisition of the stake in Ecowende marks the company’s first direct investment in an offshore wind farm.

Shell and Eneco secured the development rights for Hollandse Kust West VI in December 2022. Last year, the joint venture unveiled plans for the 760 MW offshore wind farm to be built “in harmony with nature, with minimal impact on birds, bats, and marine mammals”.

In September 2023, Ecowende partnered with Waardenburg Ecology, the largest ecological consultancy firm in the Netherlands, to develop a comprehensive ecological programme for the offshore wind farm.

The 760 MW offshore wind farm, which will be built approximately 53 kilometres off the coast of IJmuiden, will be able to produce enough electricity to meet around 3 per cent of the current demand for electricity in the Netherlands.

In December 2023, Eneco announced that the company signed a long-term power purchase agreement (PPA) for the yet-to-be-built offshore wind farm with the supermarket chain Albert Heijn, which plans to meet half of its power needs through the PPA as of 2027.

Ecowende has also just signed a corporate power purchase agreement (CPPA) with Google for the Hollandse Kust West VI offshore wind farm. As reported on 1 February, Google has reserved 478 MW of energy capacity from two offshore wind farms currently owned by Shell and Eneco in the Netherlands to help the company’s Dutch data centres and offices reach more than 90 per cent carbon-free energy in 2024.