Vattenfall is to sell the Norfolk Offshore Wind Zone to RWE at an enterprise value of £963 million.

The Norfolk Zone consists of three fully consented wind farms – Norfolk Boreas, Norfolk Vanguard West and Norfolk Vanguard East – and is located off the east coast of England. It will have a total capacity of 4.2GW.

Vattenfall said the agreement with RWE was the best way forward both for the company and for the Norfolk projects. With the divestment, Vattenfall increases its ability to invest in fossil-free projects that better fit its overall portfolio and risk appetite, while the future of the Norfolk Offshore Wind Zone is secured.
Vattenfall stressed that it has other offshore developments, for example the 1.5GW Nordlicht cluster off the coast of Germany where it is partnering with BASF. It also stressed its commitment to the UK, where it already has 1.1GW of installed wind capacity offshore and onshore. Its pipeline includes the 798MW Muir Mhor floating offshore wind farm, which is in development with Fred.Olsen Seawind, plus 500MW of onshore wind projects; heat networks under construction in three major UK cities; and an independent distribution network operator.

The sale of Boreas, Vanguard East and Vanguard West is pending regulatory approvals, and the deal is expected to close in the first quarter of 2024. Until then, Vattenfall will continue to develop the Vanguard East and Vanguard West projects. A transitional service agreement for the period after the closing will ensure continuation of the build-out.