CPP strikes $275m deal to offloading offshore wind assets in Germany
The Canada Pension Plan Investment Board, operating under CPP Investments, has revealed it is to receive $275 million for its 24.5% stake in the Hohe See and Albatros offshore wind farms, which are located in the German part of the North Sea.
Through its European subsidiary CPPIB Renewables Europe Sarl, based in Luxembourg, the C$575bn pension fund is selling the assets to Canada's Enbridge, which already holds a stake in the two wind farms. The deal is expected to close before the end of this year.
Despite the divestment, Bill Rogers, head of sustainable energies at CPP Investments, stressed the sale should not be seen as a diminsihed appetite for clean energy investments.
“The renewable energy sector, and offshore wind specifically, remains an important investment strategy for us," Rogers said, adding that CPP "will continue to seek opportunities in the sector that best fit the scale and flexibility of our capital."
The power plants are majority-owned by German utility giant EnBW, which holds a 50.1% stake if both of them. Enbridge initially acquired a 49.9% interested but sold 49% to CPP investments five years ago as part of a wider exchange of assets across Europe and the US.
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Rogers said Europe is still very much on the fund's investment radar.
"We really do have a broad mandate to invest globally, and we want to continue to build out a global portfolio, enhancing the diversification that can be delivered by regional differences. Obviously, Europe has been a long-time leader and supporter of the energy transition and many markets have well established renewables sectors."
"We are actively working with both new energy players and traditional energy companies to decarbonize their business."
Rogers pointed out that half of CPP Investments' portfolio in its sustainable energies group now comprises of renewables assets.
"The vast majority of this is through renewables developers or IPPs that we control or co-control. These businesses are both generating clean and affordable power from existing projects but also developing and constructing new projects," Rogers continued.
"In fact, we have over 100GW of gross new renewables project under development around the world with our portfolio companies, and the capital commitment to build those is not yet fully reflected in our portfolio," he added.
Regarding CPP Investments' portfolio, Rogers said there is a clear push towards decarbonisation.
"We're very focused on transitioning the energy system, and with a very clear approach that doesn’t involve divestment of fossil fuels, we are actively working with both new energy players and traditional energy companies to decarbonize their business," he concluded, singling out the fund's recent investment in Aera, alongside IKAV in the US, as "a great example of this kind of opportunity."
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