Swedish pension fund AMF has signed a deal to buy 49% share in Ormonde offshore wind farm in the UK from Vattenfall, for £237m.
The 150MW wind farm, located in the Irish Sea, 10km off Barrow-in-Furness in North West of England, operates with 30 turbines and has been producing low carbon power since 2012.
The farm is among the four offshore wind farms, operated by Vattenfall in UK.
Following the completion of the deal, Vattenfall, as a majority shareholder, will continue to run the Ormonde wind farm.
Vattenfall president and CEO Magnus Hall said: "The market has shown a considerable interest in Ormonde.
"The main reason is that the wind farm is profitable and considered to have good prospects for stable and continuous profitability.
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By GlobalData"Our partner AMF is a serious and long-term investor. We are therefore very pleased with completion of this deal."
Last year, Vattenfall announced the partnering strategy with AMF, under whichVattenfall intends to invest around SEK50bn (£3.9bn) in new wind power generation by 2020 and to triple the company’s wind power capacity to at least 6GW over the next ten years.
AMF asset management head Peder Hasslev said: "AMF manages the pension funds of four million customers, meaning the responsibility to create good and secure pensions through long-term investments.
"The Ormonde wind farm investment being sustainable with good returns fits us therefore very well.
"Conditions for off shore wind power in the UK are favourable and in combinations with the partnership and deep knowledge in the wind area of Vattenfall we feel confident about doing this investment."
Vattenfall business area wind senior vice-president Gunnar Groebler said: "Our partnering strategy is now paying off and delivering additional funds to fulfil our ambitious growth targets within the wind area, thereby supporting Vattenfall’s overall strategy to transform our production portfolio towards renewables."
In July, Vattenfall has invested SEK1.2bn (£95.6m) in a new wind farm in the UK.
Scheduled to be operational at the beginning of 2017, the proposed farm, Ray Wind Farm will be located in Northumberland, North East England and will generate over 54MW of power, with 16 onshore wind turbines.
Image: Ormonde offshore wind farm. Photo: courtesy of Vattenfall
