Norway's sovereign wealth fund makes first investment in renewable energy

Norges Bank Investment Management (NBIM) has invested for the first time in a renewable energy project, Report informs citing the fund’s website.

The Norwegian sovereign wealth fund signed an agreement to acquire a 50 percent interest in the Borssele 1 & 2 offshore wind farm located in the Netherlands.

The agreement was signed on 7 April 2021, with completion expected in the second or third quarter of 2021.

Norges Bank Investment Management will pay 1,375 million euros for its 50 percent interest in the offshore wind farm. No external debt financing will be involved in the transaction.

The seller of the 50 percent interest is Ørsted A/S. Ørsted will remain co-owner and operator of the project.

“We are excited to have made our first investment in unlisted renewable energy infrastructure and pleased to partner with Ørsted as the market leader in offshore wind. Borssele 1 & 2 is a high-quality offshore wind asset, and the acquisition is in line with our strategy to build a high-quality portfolio of wind and solar power generation assets. The unlisted renewable energy infrastructure strategy supplements our existing unlisted real estate portfolio well, and we draw on our long experience with direct investments,” says Mie Holstad, Chief Real Assets Officer at Norges Bank Investment Management.

The offshore wind farm has an installed capacity of 752 MW and produces energy equivalent to the annual electricity consumption of around one million Dutch households.

Norges Bank Investment Management is a separate part of Norges Bank and is responsible for the management of the Government Pension Fund – Global, and manages Norges Bank's foreign exchange reserves. The Government Pension Fund of Norway is a stabilization fund that may be the world's largest sovereign wealth fund. Among others, the fund owns shares of such companies as Microsoft, Apple, Nestle SA, Alphabet, Amazon, Royal Dutch Shell, Novartis, Facebook.