RWE Innogy taking a share in Belgian offshore wind farm Thornton Bank, RWE
Release Date: 2009-05-04
- Socofe and Ecotech Finance transfer 20.22 percent in C-Power to RWE Innogy and retain 20 percent themselves
- RWE Innogy acquires another 6.5 percent from various shareholders
- Construction of up to 300 MW planned overall
- First six turbines already installed
RWE Innogy acquires 20.22 percent of the shares of the Belgian developer and operator of offshore wind farms, C-Power NV, Zwijndrecht. The shares are sold by the Belgian investment companies Ecotech and Socofe, both located in Liège. RWE Innogy also acquires 6.5 percent of C-Power from other shareholders (EDF Energies Nouvelles, Nutsbedrijven Houdstermaatschappij and DEME).
C-Power develops and constructs the offshore wind farm Thornton Bank. Thornton Bank is the first offshore wind farm off the Belgian coast which has already been fully permitted. Access to the grid has also been secured.
Prof. Fritz Vahrenholt, CEO of RWE Innogy: "Thornton Bank is one of the first offshore wind farms worldwide, built at a depth of up to 28 metres up to 30 kilometres off the coast. This is why the investment provides us with an excellent opportunity to not only contribute, but also extend our experience significantly in the offshore sector. This will benefit our ambitious development aims in the offshore sector."
Filip Martens, CEO of C-Power: "We are happy to have found a very experienced partner with RWE for the construction and further development of the Thornton Bank project, because we want to set high standards with this wind farm in the offshore sector.“
Claude Grégoire, Managing Director of Socofe: “Socofe and Ecotech Finance have supported their subsidiary C-Power in this project since its beginnings. As a result, the company has been able for almost ten years to finance its technical and economic development. With 20 percent of the shares now, we continue to have a significant involvement in a project in which we believe”.
Michel Savonet, CEO of Ecotech Finance: “We are particularly happy to see that the acquisition is pursued by a group with the reputation and experience of RWE. Together with Socofe, we will continue to move the project forward and will use the proceeds from the sale to contribute to funding the second phase. A participation in similar projects is also conceivable.”
The wind farm will have an installed capacity of up to 300 megawatts and is expected to produce around 1,000 gigawatt-hours of electricity per year. This volume is sufficient to meet the requirements of about 600,000 people. It is to be equipped with 60 turbines of the 5-megawatt class. The first six turbines have already been installed successfully as part of a pilot phase. Another four project phases are due to follow by 2013. The wind farm will meet a substantial part of the development targets of the Belgian government for renewable energies. It will avoid the emission of about 450,000 tons of CO2 per year compared to a modern gas-fired power plant.
The profitability of the wind farm is safeguarded by a certificate system. Belgian electricity utilities have to contribute a certain share of renewable energies to their energy mix or purchase a corresponding amount of certificates. The price of the certificates is based on supply and demand, but has lower limits depending on technology. The minimum price of offshore wind certificates is € 107 per megawatt-hour (MWh) for the first 216 MW and € 90 per MWh for capacity exceeding 216 MW.
RWE Innogy already has a strong presence in the offshore wind business in the United Kingdom. Apart from the existing 60 MW wind farm North Hoyle off the Welsh coast, the company will already commission its second wind farm Rhyl Flats with 90 MW of installed capacity at this location this year. The Gwynt y Môr offshore wind farm, also planned off the Welsh coast, is to be one of the largest of its kind worldwide with 750 MW. RWE Innogy also has a share of 50 percent in the Greater Gabbard offshore wind farm off England's east coast. Once complete in 2011, this wind farm is to have a total capacity of 500 MW. RWE Innogy intends to move the offshore wind business forward also off the continental European coast. In Germany, for instance, the company plans to build the Innogy Nordsee 1 wind farm with a capacity of approx. 960 MW off the North Sea island Juist, and the 300 MW offshore wind farm Tromp Binnen is due to be erected off the northern coast in the Netherlands. Overall, RWE Innogy is developing offshore wind power projects with a generation capacity of 2,000 MW at several sites in the Netherlands.
| Type: | NORMAL |
| Company: | RWE |
| Country: | Germany |
| Url: | http://www.rwe.com/web/cms/en/113648/rwe/press-news/press-release/?pmid=4003344 |