Macquarie Is Said to Seek Buyer for Stake in Taiwan Wind Farm
Macquarie Capital is seeking to pare its stake in Taiwan’s first offshore wind farm, people with knowledge of the matter said.
The Australian firm, which is an arm of Macquarie Group Ltd., has been reaching out to potential buyers for part of its 50 percent holding in the Formosa I project in the sea off northwestern Taiwan, according to the people, who asked not to be identified because the matter is private.
Macquarie Capital bought the stake last year, with Orsted A/S also acquiring 35 percent. Local developer Swancor Holding Co. owns the remainder. The first 8-megawatt stage of the facility was installed in 2016 as part of a drive by the nation to increase output of renewable energy.
Another 120 megawatts are slated for next year and the total development cost would be about $840 million, according to Tom Harries, a wind analyst at Bloomberg New Energy Finance in London.
A representative for Macquarie declined to comment.
The island nation’s government has said that it is planning to increase the share of renewable energy to 20 percent of total power output by 2025, up from 5 percent now. It selected seven companies in April to lead work on 3.8 gigawatts of offshore wind farms. Denmark’s Orsted won grid capacity for an additional 900 megawatts in the auction.
Macquarie, which owns stakes in both onshore and offshore wind farms, typically gets involved in the early stages of projects and sells down to other investors once they get closer to completion. The firm acquired the U.K.’s Green Investment Bank last year for 2.3 billion pounds ($3.1 billion), bolstering its presence in the renewable energy market.
Source: Bloomberg L.P.
