German clean energy firm innogy has bought Statkraft out of the 860MW Triton Knoll offshore wind farm just weeks after it landed Contracts for Difference (CfD) support.
Yesterday innogy confirmed that it had reached an agreement to acquire Statkraft’s 50% stake in the project, becoming its sole owner.
However the firm also confirmed that both it and Statkraft had agreed to “maintain confidentiality” over the purchase price, with innogy now looking to move towards a final invest decision in mid-2018.
Hans Bünting, COO for renewables at innogy, also hinted at further financial moves regarding Triton Knoll, adding that innogy would “review all options regarding the ownership structure… to maximise value for our company and our shareholders”.
Last month Triton Knoll became one of three large offshore windfarms to land a CfD contract at strike prices far lower than expected. The project is due to complete by the 2021/22 delivery year, providing power at £74.75/MWh (in 2012 prices) over the contract’s 15-year duration.
The awards, which also saw a further two projects come in for the subsequent delivery year at £57.50/MWh, were lauded as “astounding” and an indicator of success for the competitive auction framework.
Innogy is now working to finalise its financing process for the development, also working to conclude its contracting and supply chain agreements.
As many as 90 Vestas 9.5MW turbines are to be supplied for the project while substations are to be sourced from a joint venture of Sif Netherlands and Smulders Projects. Both onshore and offshore substations will come from Siemens Transmission and Distribution.
Onshore works to facilitate its grid connection are to start next year, with offshore deployment slated to start in 2020 prior to commissioning a year later.
