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German Offshore Wind Pioneer Said to Plan $1 Billion Stake Sale

German Offshore Wind Pioneer Said to Plan $1 Billion Stake Sale

(Bloomberg) -- WPD AG, a German renewables developer, is seeking investors for an equity stake of at least $1 billion or potentially to buy the whole business, according to people familiar with the matter.

The company, which is based in Bremen, is considering a number of different options for its future development and growing cash needs, according to the people, who asked not to be identified because they aren’t authorized to speak about it publicly. The deliberations may not result in a transaction, the people said.

WPD declined to comment.

Founded in 1996, the company now has 2,000 turbines in 18 countries and won the most work in a major contest in Taiwan earlier this month. The government in Taipei said WPD has grid capacity for three offshore wind farm projects with a combined capacity of 1.1 gigawatts, more than any other company. A gigawatt is about the same as a nuclear reactor produces.

Closely held by its two founders, WPD was one of the pioneers of the offshore wind industry, securing its first site in 2000. It currently has 5.6 gigawatts of projects in early planning stages.

Taiwan’s 35GW Clean Energy Transition: A Market Primer

Taiwan is emerging as one of the world’s most active markets for offshore wind, as developers seek to build projects that earn based on a fixed tariff. In recent auctions in Germany and the Netherlands, companies offered to build subsidy-free projects as the industry and technology matures.

To contact the reporters on this story: Vinicy Chan in Hong Kong at vchan91@bloomberg.net, Anna Hirtenstein in London at ahirtenstein@bloomberg.net.

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Reed Landberg at landberg@bloomberg.net, Lars Paulsson

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