Macquarie Asset Management sells minority stake in Lincs Offshore Wind Farm

Macquarie Asset Management has reached an agreement to sell Macquarie European Infrastructure Fund 5’s 15.5 per cent stake in Lincs Offshore Wind Farm (Lincs) to funds managed by Octopus Energy Generation.

Lincs is situated in the North Sea, 8-kilometres off the east coast of England. Operational since 2013, the 270 MW offshore wind farm is comprised of 75 turbines and powers the equivalent of 278,000 homes annually.¹

Macquarie European Infrastructure Fund 5’s minority stake in Lincs, which it has held since 2017, has been acquired by Octopus Renewables Infrastructure Trust and Sky (ORI SCSp), funds managed by Octopus Energy Generation. Macquarie Green Investment Group Renewable Energy Fund 1 will continue to manage a 44 per cent stake in Lincs following this transaction.

Martin Bradley, Head of Real Assets in EMEA for Macquarie Asset Management, said: “The successful delivery and operation of projects like Lincs over the past decade has made the UK a world leader in the offshore wind sector. Investors recognise this, with this transaction a strong vote of confidence in the central role offshore wind will play in enabling the UK to reach net zero.”

Macquarie Group is helping to accelerate the decarbonisation of the UK’s economy, mobilising investment in established clean technologies like wind and solar while investing across more nascent areas of the energy transition such as hydrogen, electric vehicle charging infrastructure, and battery storage. It has helped finance approximately 38 per cent of the UK’s operational offshore wind capacity and is supporting the next generation of projects, including the 2 GW West of Orkney and 1.5 GW Outer Dowsing projects in the North Sea.^2,3

Macquarie Asset Management was advised by Macquarie Capital on the transaction. The terms of the transaction have not been disclosed.

1. Analysis by Macquarie Asset Management’s Green Investment Group’s (GIG’s) Green Analytics team. GIG’s Green Impact Reporting Criteria, which details how we attribute the Green Impact of our investments, can be accessed on GIG’s website
2. Equivalent to 4.3 GW of operational capacity supported. Analysis based on 11.3 GW of total operational capacity (Crown Estate 2021 Offshore Wind Report)
3. The West of Orkney and Outer Dowsing offshore wind farms are being developed by Corio Generation, a portfolio company of Macquarie’s Green Investment Group operating on a standalone basis