APG today announced the acquisition of a 64% stake in Merkur Offshore, a large wind farm in the German North Sea. The acquisition is made on behalf of its pension fund client ABP. The recently completed wind farm, with a capacity of 396 MW, is fully operational and provides enough renewable energy for the equivalent of 500,000 Dutch households. The project will save c.18 million tonnes of CO2 equivalent over its project life.
The remaining 36% of the wind farm will be acquired in partnership with funds managed by InfraRed Capital Partners Limited, a leading international investment manager focused on infrastructure and real estate. Financial details of the investment are not disclosed.
The Merkur Offshore wind farm consists of 66 General Electric (“GE”) Haliade-150 offshore wind turbines, with a capacity of 6MW each, spanning an area of approximately 47 km². The wind farm is located 45 kilometers off the north German coast, making it invisible from land.
Patrick Kanters, Managing Director Global Real Assets at APG: “As a pension investor, we are continuously looking for attractive, responsible infrastructure investments worldwide that help us realize stable and long-term returns for ABP and other pension fund clients we work for. Our investment in this large wind farm Merkur Offshore, on behalf of ABP, fits the core of our strategy. Not only do we expect solid returns, it also marks a major step in the growth of our renewable infrastructure portfolio, providing sustainable energy to hundred thousands of households. We look forward working together alongside InfraRed in the years to come.”
This acquisition represents APG’s second investment in the offshore wind sector, following its previous investment in Walney 1 in the UK, and builds on its already substantial renewable energy portfolio across Europe, which now totals in excess of 2GW.
APG makes this investment on behalf of ABP and ppf APG.
Read the ABP (NL) press release here. The APG (EN) press release can be found here.
Watch a short film about the construction of Merkur Offshore below.