An international team from Eversheds Sutherland has advised Norges Bank Investment Management (NBIM) on a €1,375 million acquisition of a 50% interest in the Borssele 1 & 2 offshore wind farm in the Netherlands.

This acquisition is NBIM’s first investment in the renewables market, with the sale purchase agreement signed on Wednesday 7 April 2021 with completion expected later this year. The stake is acquired from Ørsted, who will remain co-owner, and operation and maintenance provider for the project.

Eversheds Sutherland deployed an M&A and Energy team of lawyers from the Netherlands and Germany to support NBIM. The team was led by Miriam van Ee, Partner and Co-Head of Eversheds Sutherland’s Energy Practice in the Netherlands, and Werner Brickwedde, Partner and Head of Eversheds Sutherland’s Energy Practice in Germany.

Borssele 1 & 2 is currently the largest operational offshore wind farm in the Netherlands and the second largest operational offshore wind farm in the world, with an installed capacity of 752 MW. The project is located 22km off the coast of the Dutch province of Zeeland, with a total area of 112 sq km, consisting of 94 Siemens Gamesa 8MW offshore wind turbines. The site was fully commissioned in Q4 2020.

NBIM is the asset management division of the Norwegian Central Bank, and manages the Norwegian Government Pension Fund Global, the world’s largest sovereign wealth fund. It manages assets worth more than €1.042 trillion. The fund is invested in international equity and fixed-income markets and in unlisted real estate.