Partners Group sells 20% of Borssele 3&4 offshore wind farm to Swiss investor

Private equity firm Partners Group is selling a 20% stake in the 731.5MW Borssele 3&4 offshore wind farm in the Dutch North Sea to Swiss Life Asset Managers for an undisclosed amount.

The wind farm at 55 kilometres off the southern Dutch Port of Vlissingen has been operating since last year and is designed to generate 3TWh of electricity per year, enough to power some 825,000 households.

“Through our thematic investing approach, we identified offshore wind at the right time as a key contributor towards achieving global net-zero goals in a high growth market,” said David Daum, managing director private infrastructure Europe at Partners Group.

“We invested in Borssele before construction had started, contributed to the set-up of an independent organisation to handle daily operations, and guided the project through difficult conditions during the COVID pandemic to full operational status.

“Borssele now generates the equivalent of 2.3% of Dutch electricity demand."

Borssele's other shareholders are oil & gas supermajor Shell, Mitsubishi-owned Dutch utility Eneco, INPEX and Luxcara. Shell and Eneco have signed up to buy half of the projects annual power output under 15-year PPAs.

Partners Group had invested in Borssele 3&4 in 2018, when it took a 45% stake.

The private equity firm’s infrastructure business has $21bn in assets under management and has made over 130 investments in 18 countries.