Greencoat UK Wind PLC ("UKW" or "the Company") is pleased to announce that it has agreed to acquire SSE's 25.1% interest in the Walney I and II offshore wind farms (together "Walney"), subject to the completion process which it expects will take place shortly, for a headline consideration of £350 million.

Walney is located approximately 9 miles off the Cumbrian coast and has a capacity of 367.2MW. Walney was constructed by Orsted and its two phases have been operational since July 2011 and June 2012. The wind farm receives 2 ROCs per MWh, has a load factor of 45.1% and is operated and managed by Orsted, the 50.1% owner. The remaining 24.8% is owned by PGGM.

The acquisition will be funded by UKW's acquisition facility, recently resized to £400 million. Following the acquisition of Walney, borrowings under the acquisition facility will amount to £380 million, bringing total borrowings to £980 million (35% of GAV).

Shonaid Jemmett-Page, Chairman of Greencoat UK Wind, commented: 

We are delighted to acquire SSE's 25.1% interest in Walney, which is a high quality, ROC accredited asset. The acquisition is our third offshore wind farm investment since listing in 2013, following our investments in Rhyl Flats and North Hoyle. Walney is a natural addition to our portfolio of operating UK wind farms and increases our net generating capacity to over 1GW for the first time.

Laurence Fumagalli of Greencoat Capital LLP added:

We are pleased to make this investment in Walney, a large scale and high load factor offshore wind farm, which should deliver attractive investment returns. Walney is the latest addition to our portfolio of 36 ROC and CFD investments, of which offshore assets now comprise 17%. Looking ahead, we continue to see a strong pipeline of investment opportunities, both onshore and offshore, and remain committed to our disciplined investment approach.

The Company was advised by Jefferies International Limited and Norton Rose Fulbright LLP.