Iberdrola Buys Stake in $2.7 Billion French Offshore Wind Farm

(Bloomberg) --

Iberdrola SA agreed to buy the 30% stake it didn’t already own in a wind farm project off the coast of France that will cost an estimated 2.4 billion euros ($2.73 billion) to build as the Spanish utility pursues its fast expansion in the clean power market.

Iberdrola, which already had 70% in the Bay of Saint-Brieuc project, is buying the 30% interest held by U.K. developer Renewable Energy Systems and Ltd. and French state-owned financial institution Caisse des Depots et Consignations, the company said in a statement Monday. It didn’t mention a purchase cost.

Construction of the 496-megawatt wind farm on the northern shore of Brittany is due start next year, the company said. The facility with 62 turbines made by Siemens Gamesa Renewable Energy SA, should be fully operational in 2023 and will produce enough power to cover the needs of 835,000 people.

“All agreements are in place, the funding is secured and contracts are signed,” Jonathan Cole, Iberdrola’s global managing director for offshore wind, said in the statement. “We are hoping that the final legal and administrative matters will be concluded quickly.”

Iberdrola and its partners were awarded the project by the French government in 2012.

To contact the reporters on this story: Francois de Beaupuy in Paris at fdebeaupuy@bloomberg.net;Rodrigo Orihuela in Madrid at rorihuela@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: James Herron at jherron9@bloomberg.net, Lars Paulsson, Andrew Reierson

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