Zurich municipal utility Elektrizitätswerk der Stadt Zürich (EWZ) together with Swiss asset manager Fontavis has bought a 25% stake in the 200MW Trianel Borkum II offshore wind farm in the German North Sea.
EWZ will finance the purchase through a Sfr200m ($197.6m) framework credit approved by the Zurich municipal council.
Comprising 32 wind turbines, the offshore wind farmstands on an area of 56km2 and is located about 45kms from the Borkum in the northwest direction.
The utility says the share in the offshore array translates into an electricity production of 105GWh per year that could provide power for 39,000 Zurich households.
Through the stake acquisition, EWZ expects to grow its annual wind power generation by 30% and also increase the power generation using renewable energy considerably.
Construction of the Trianel Borkum II wind farm is slated to begin in 2018 spring while its commissioning is aimed for 2019 end.
The other stakeholders of the Trianel Borkum II wind farm are EWE, a German energy supplier and Stadtwerk-Cooperation Trianel alongside 18 German municipalities and municipal energy suppliers.
Both the German firms, EWE and Trianel hold 37.5% stake each in the offshore wind farm which are also co-developing the project through a joint venture.
German wind turbine manufacturer Senvion is supplying 203MW turbines in the 6.XM series for the wind farm.