Statkraft sells two windfarms to Greencoat in £104m deal

Statkraft has announced plans to push ahead with plans for a major onshore wind farm in Scotland, and will sell the completed project to renewable infrastructure fund Greencoat.

The 43MW Wind Rig wind farm, in Dumfries and Galloway, is set to be completed in 2021. Ownership will be transferred to Greencoat when it is fully operational, Statkraft said when the deal was announced late last week.

A second wind farm, the nearby 38MW Twentyshilling project, will also be sold to Greencoat on completion in 2021, Statkraft added, pending a final investment decision next year.  Together the deals are thought to be worth £104m, with both projects zero subsidy.

"We are delighted these projects have reached the next phase, and will continue to work closely with Greencoat UK Wind as the projects progress into construction and operations," said Sean Maguire, vice president commercial at Statkraft.

In related news, SSE's plan to repower its Tangy wind farm on the Kintyre peninsula won planning permission from the Scottish government on Friday.

SSE plans to reduce the current 22-turbine site down to 16 turbines, but the larger turbines will actually increase its power capacity from 18.7MW up to 80MW.

The reduction in turbine numbers reflects the rapid development of wind turbine technology and will allow SSE Renewables to take advantage of much more powerful turbines to maximise the energy generation potential and efficiency of the site, SSE said.

"We are delighted to hear that Scottish Minsters have granted consent for Tangy IV as repowering aging wind farms is fast becoming a key priority in meeting Scotland's net-zero ambitions," said Andy Gregory, SSE renewables development project manager. "This consent will allow us to replace the existing Tangy turbines with fewer, but more efficient, larger-capacity machines, harnessing more of Argyll's excellent wind resource and making use of the existing infrastructure there."

Source: businessgreen.com