The Pension Insurance Corporation has invested £115m on the acquisition of a 50 per cent share in Walney Extension Offshore Wind Farm Project.
PIC is to provide debt-financing for the 50 per share in the farm which is jointly owned by green energy company Orsted and Danish pension funds PKA and PFA.
Located off the coast of Cumbria, the wind farm is set to power more than 500,000 UK homes. Before this PIC has invested in renewable energy including solar generation and biomass.
The insurer has believes the investment is a good match for its pension liabilities with “predicatable CPI-linked, secured and amortising cash-flows”. The revenues are backed by the Government’s Contract for Difference (CfD) regime, which provides fixed, CPI linked prices over the maturity of the debt.
Together with large institutional investors, PIC took part of a £1.3bn senior secured project debt issuance due to mature in 2033.
PIC debt origination manager Florence Carasse, said: “We are very pleased to have completed our first investment in the offshore wind industry with one of the most experienced and respected names in the industry. The Walney Extension Project will provide clean energy to a large number of UK homes while backing our pension payments for many years.”
