Masdar completes 49% stake acquisition in UK offshore wind project

Plant is expected to generate electricity to power 3 million British homes

In 2013, Masdar RWE and partners launched the 630MW London Array wind farm, the world's largest at the time. Photo: Masdar

Abu Dhabi clean energy company Masdar has completed the acquisition of a 49 per cent stake in 3-gigawatt Dogger Bank South (DBS) project, one of the world’s largest planned offshore wind farms, as it continues to expand its presence across renewable energy markets in the UK and globally.

The acquisition is part of an £11 billion ($14 billion) joint investment in the UK’s renewable energy sector with German company RWE, which retains a 51 per cent stake.

The drive is expected to boost the UK economy and demonstrates the UAE’s commitment to supporting net-zero goals in Britain and around the world, Masdar said in a statement on Thursday.

It builds on the £10 billion UAE-UK sovereign investment partnership that aims to invest in technology, infrastructure and energy transition.

“The addition of the Dogger Bank South project demonstrates our commitment to developing Masdar’s offshore wind capacity and expertise as an important component in our pursuit of the target of 100GW renewable energy portfolio capacity by 2030,” Masdar’s chief executive Mohamed Jameel Al Ramahi said.

About 100km off the north-eastern coast of England, the DBS wind farm will be split across two sites – DBS East and DBS West – each with a capacity of 1.5GW and spanning 500 square kilometres.

The mega-plant is expected to generate enough electricity to power three million UK homes and will lead to the creation of 2,000 jobs during construction and more than 1,000 direct and indirect jobs in the operational phase.

The transaction is important for the “further development of offshore wind in the UK, one of our core strategic markets”, said Markus Krebber, RWE’s chief executive.

“Together with Masdar we aim to … make a significant contribution to the decarbonisation of the UK’s energy system.”

Masdar and RWE signed an agreement to work together on the DBS projects at Cop28 in the UAE last December.

Construction on the projects is expected to start at the end of 2025, with the first 800MW of electricity planned to come online in 2029. The projects are expected to be fully commissioned by the end of 2031.

Masdar is supporting offshore wind projects globally.

Nearly a decade ago, Masdar, RWE and partners launched the 630MW London Array wind farm, the world’s largest at the time. Masdar has also invested in the 30MW Hywind project – the world’s first floating offshore wind farm – and the 402MW Dudgeon offshore wind farm.

Last year, it agreed to co-invest in the 476MW Baltic Eagle offshore wind farm, which will power 475,000 homes.