Japanese trading company Mitsubishi (MC) has brought in two new investors for the 950MW Moray East offshore wind farm in the UK North Sea by divesting a stake of 50% in Diamond Green, an intermediate holding company.

MHI-V164

Image: The Moray East offshore wind farm will feature 100 V164-9.5 MW turbines from MHI Vestas. Photo: courtesy of MHI Vestas Offshore Wind.

Diamond Green is owned 100% by Diamond Generating Europe (DGE), which is also a subsidiary of Mitsubishi, and a stakeholder in the Moray East offshore wind farm.

The Japanese trading company will sell 30% stake in Diamond Green to The Kansai Electric Power (KEPCO) and another 20% stake to Mitsubishi UFJ Lease & Finance (MUL). Financial terms of the two transactions were not disclosed.

Mitsubishi, in a statement, said: “MC’s strategy is to continue its engagement in the offshore wind power generation business while re-profiling assets and optimizing its portfolio through divestment including aiming to be a player in offshore wind power generation in Japan by leveraging the experience gained from project operations in Europe.

“The divestment of Diamond Green is consistent with both the needs of Japanese companies and MC’s strategy.”

Following the sale of the stake, KEPCO and MUL will join DGE, EDP Renewables and Engie as shareholders in the Moray East offshore wind farm, located 22km off the coast of Scotland.

Separately, EDP Renewables, DGE and Engie have secured financing for the UK offshore wind project with a syndicate of 16 commercial banks and also Denmark’s Export Credit Agency (EKF) and the Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC).

The financing for the offshore wind farm covers a £2.1bn debt facility and £0.5bn of ancillary facilities.

Comprising of 100 turbines, each with 9.5MW capacity, the Moray East offshore wind farm will produce enough electricity to meet the power consumption needs of around one million households in the UK.

The turbines for the offshore wind farm are expected to be supplied by MHI Vestas, which had signed a conditional agreement in August 2018 to deliver its V164-9.5 MW offshore wind turbine generators.

Earlier this month, NKT, a Danish cable supplier, bagged a contract to supply and install export cable systems for the Moray East offshore wind farm, which is slated to be fully commissioned by 2021.