Irish company ESB has acquired a 12.5% share from Macquarie Capital in the 353MW Galloper offshore wind farm off the Suffolk coast of England.
The deal marks the utility-developer’s first move into offshore wind since exiting the industry in 2005.
Galloper comprises 56 Siemens Gamesa 6.3MW turbines and is in the final stages of construction, ESB said.
ESB chief executive Pat O’Doherty said: “This investment represents a significant first step for ESB into offshore wind generation.
“Our investment in the Galloper wind farm underscores ESB’s commitment to further involvement in the development and construction of wind farms off the coast of Ireland and Britain, as part of the transition to a brighter, low carbon future.”
No details were disclosed on the price of the deal.
The Irish outfit has recently embarked a major push into the sector and is in the early stages of investigating up to 1GW of projects off the Irish east coast.
ESB has asked authorities to approve two separate studies for 500MW projects off Louth/Meath and Wexford.
Meanwhile, Bibby Marine Services walk-to-work service vessel Wavemaster 1 has completed its first charter with James Fisher Marine Services on Galloper.
The vessel, which supported commissioning work on the wind farm, will next start a job for Total in the oil and gas sector.
Galloper project director Toby Edmonds said: “The Bibby WaveMaster 1 and her team have helped us deliver our ambitious commissioning programme for the project on time, this is made all the more impressive as we did it during one of the wildest winters we’ve had for many years.
“In some instances their efforts have exceeded expectations and brought forward the commissioning programme by using their uptime walk-2-work system.”
Image: Innogy
ESB joins Galloper riders
By EBS