Japanese oil and gas company Inpex has agreed to buy into two operating offshore wind farms off the Dutch coast – a 50% stake in the 129MW Eneco Luchterduinen project and a 15% stake in the 731.5MW Borssele III & IV project.
Its acquisition of the project stakes from Diamond Generating Europe, a subsidiary of Mitsubishi Corporation, marks the start of plans to grow a renewable energy business in Europe, the Japanese firm stated.
Luchterduinen consists of 43 of Vestas’s V112-3.0MW turbines and has been in commercial operation since September 2015. Meanwhile, Borssele III/IV consists of 43 of Vestas’s V164-9.5MW turbines and has been in commercial operation since January 2021.
The acquisition was made through Inpex Renewable Energy Europe Limited, a company established in the UK last month (on 17 November) in the form of a stock transfer agreement with Diamond Generating Europe.
Inpex aims to develop a renewables business alongside its exploration and production activities. It made renewable energy – specifically wind and geothermal – a ‘business pillar’ in a business development strategy announced in January this year.
It entered the offshore wind sector in June, as one of six members of a consortium, led by Toda, that successfully bid for the right to develop the 16.8MW Goto City floating offshore wind farm off the coast of Nagasaki Prefecture in Japan.
Since the Goto investment, Inpex has committed to more investment in renewables. It recently completed a fundraising dedicated to “new investment and refinancing for the development, construction, operation and maintenance of renewable energies covering wind power and geothermal”.
The October issuance of a ten-year green bond saw 24 Japanese banks and insurers, along with parties as diverse as conservation agencies and mutual aid societies, invest JPY100 billion (US$88 million).
