UK Green Investment Bank Financial Services Limited (GIBFS) has announced that it has executed a Second Close on new commitments of £355m for its Offshore Wind Fund, bringing total committed capital to £818m and nearing its £1bn target. This makes the GIBFS-managed fund the largest renewable energy fund in the UK.
Second Close investors include Swedish life insurance and pension company AMF Pensionsförsäkring AB (AMF) and Strathclyde Pension Fund. The Fund represents their first investments in the UK offshore wind sector. Second close investors join UK-based pension funds, a major sovereign wealth fund and UK Green Investment Bank plc (GIB) in the partnership, which held an initial close on £463m earlier this year.
The Fund is the first to be dedicated solely to investments in offshore wind power generation globally and provides long-term institutional investors with the opportunity to access the UK's green infrastructure sector.
The second close has been marked with the acquisition by the fund of GIB's option on a 10% stake in Gwynt y Môr offshore wind farm. The 576 MW wind farm - located in Liverpool Bay - was officially inaugurated in June of this year.
The Fund now has three assets (the other two are Rhyl Flats, a 90 MW, 25 turbine wind farm operated by RWE Innogy UK and Sheringham Shoal, a 317 MW, 88 turbine wind farm operated by Statkraft). These three offshore wind farms are able to produce 2980 GWh of renewable energy annually.
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