Orsted has sold a 50% stake in its in-construction 1218MW Hornsea 1 offshore wind farm off east England to Global Infrastructure Partners.
The Danish developer will continue to build-out the project off Yorkshire under a full-scope EPC contract and provide long-term operations and maintenance under the deal.
Half of the total construction cost will be met by GIP, including the transmission assets.
The deal is worth £4.46bn, which is to be paid in 2018 and 2020, Orsted sad.
GIP is partially financing its acquisition using a multi-tranche package of more than £3.5bn.
The cash contains a mixture of investment grade-rated project bonds issued to a consortium of blue chip institutional debt investors, commercial bank loans and mezzanine debt provided by the Danish pension fund PFA, with some tranches guaranteed by EKF, Denmark’s Export Credit Agency.
The financing is the largest single-project financing to date in the global renewable energy sector, Orsted said. The Danish developer structured and led the financing and co-arranged with GIP.
Orsted executive vice predident for M&A Ole Kjems Sorensen said: “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 deal does not change Orsted’s financial guidance for 2018. “We still see full-year EBITDA, excluding new partnerships, skewing towards the upper end of the guidance range of Dkr12.5-13.5bn, and gross investments of Dkr16-18bn.”
Ørsted’s full-year EBITDA for 2018, including the profit from the Hornsea 1 partnership, is expected to be “significantly higher” than the 2017 EBITDA level of Dkr22.5 billion, the developer added.
The transaction is subject to certain regulatory approvals, including from relevant competition authorities, and is expected to close in the fourth quarter 2018.
Hornsea 1 will feature 174 Siemens Gamesa 7MW turbines and is due online in 2020.