Kansai Electric Joins Iberdrola's German Offshore Wind Project
TOKYO (Reuters) - Japan's Kansai Electric Power Co has agreed to take a 49% stake in Iberdrola's Windanker offshore wind project in Germany, the company said on Friday, expanding a partnership with the Spanish renewable energy giant.
Located in the German part of the Baltic Sea, the wind farm will have an installed capacity of 315 megawatts and is set to start operating in late 2026.
Neither company disclosed how much Kansai paid for its stake. Iberdrola, which will retain a 51% stake in the project, said it values the wind farm at 1.3 billion euros.
For Kansai Electric, Japan's top nuclear power operator and the country's second largest electric power utility, this is the fifth offshore wind project overseas bringing its total projected offshore wind capacity of 3 gigawatts.
The two companies are already partners in British power distributor Electricity North West, where Kansai Electric holds a 12% stake and Iberdrola controls the rest.
In March, Iberdrola won a 375 megawatt offshore wind project in northern Japan, part of a consortium with two other Japanese companies, in the third round of the state offshore wind auctions as Tokyo wants to grow renewable energy output.
This week, BP and Japanese power generator JERA have agreed to join forces to form one of the world's largest offshore wind operators, as Japanese firms team up with western players for experience and growth while foreign companies seek a foothold in Japan's expanding renewable energy market.
($1 = 0.9557 euros)
(Reporting by Katya Golubkova; Editing by Sonali Paul)