Enbridge to Buy into EnBW Offshore Wind Park Project

 

Once completed, Hohe See, expected to cost as much as 2 billion euros ($2.24 billion), will produce enough power to supply about 560,000 homes. EnBW plans to make a final investment decision towards the end of the year.

 

Sources had told Reuters in July that Enbridge and Australia's Macquarie were both vying for the stake of up to 49.9 percent.

 

A second person with knowledge of the matter told Thomson Reuters PFI that consultants who had been working on debt financing for the project were no longer involved. Of the two bidders, only Macquarie required debt financing, banking sources said.

 

EnBW and Enbridge declined to comment, while Macquarie was not immediately available for comment.

 

The move further strengthens Enbrige's footprint in Europe's booming offshore industry, which already covers a 24.9 percent stake in E.ON's Rampion project as well as a strategic partnership with France's EDF.

 

Europe's cash-strapped utilities depend on external cash for their offshore parks, usually in need of more than 1 billion euros in investments apiece, with foreign energy groups and pension funds plugging the gap in search of regulated returns.

 

Enbridge, Canada's largest pipeline company, in November pointed to the offshore wind industry's "strong market fundamentals, sound commercial underpinnings and attractive returns".


($1 = 0.8927 euros)

(Reporting by Christoph Steitz and Stefano Berra; Additional reporting by Catherine Ngai; Editing by Georgina Prodhan)