Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners (CIP) will acquire the the 480MW fixed bottom Morecambe offshore wind project, being developed by a joint venture between Flotation Energy, which is owned by TEPCO Renewable Power and COBRA Group.
The Morecambe project, located 30km from the Lancashire coast in the Irish Sea, secured a project lease in the UK Offshore Wind Leasing Round 4 in 2021 and is currently in the pre-examination phase of consenting.
Transaction close will come after the usual approvals and conditions are met; the financial terms of the agreement have not been disclosed.
CIP has a notable UK development pipeline and its acquisition of Morecambe brings its total capacity under development over 25GW, covering offshore wind, onshore wind, solar, BESS and network infrastructure.
Through its funds, CIP invested in the now operational 588MW Beatrice offshore wind farm off the north-east coast of Scotland and is currently developing the Ossian and Pentland Floating Offshore wind farms (3,600MW and 100MW respectively). In 2023, it acquired a 50% stake in Statkraft’s offshore wind portfolio in an agreement that saw the latter scale up its Irish offshore wind development.
Morecambe will become part of CIP’s Copenhagen Infrastructure V (CI V) flagship fund, which has a target fund size of €12 billion (£10 billion) and invests in a range of renewable technologies from wind and solar PV to energy storage across Europe, North America and Asia Pacific.
CIP partner Nischal Agarwal said: “Our acquisition of the Morecambe project demonstrates CIP’s confidence in the delivery of the UK government’s ambitious 2030 offshore wind target, as enabled by its world leading Contracts for Difference (CfD) scheme, and key reforms aimed at speeding up planning and grid processes.”
While grid connection and planning reforms are underway, the UK government is also consulting on reforms to the CfD scheme that could better enable offshore wind generation capacity to reach the targets set in the Clean Power 2030 (CP30) plan.
Earlier this month, it also launched the Clean Industry Bonus to provide financial support for offshore wind developers on the condition that they prioritise their investment in areas that need it most. It will come with an initial £27 million per gigawatt for offshore wind projects and will be allocated competitively, with results announced by energy secretary Ed Miliband in summer.
