What is the attraction for institutional investors such as the Marguerite Fund to invest in a wind farm?
Funds and Financial investors such as Marguerite are increasingly interested in investing in renewable
energy. That is why there hâve been a sériés of investments in wind farms on land in the past years. The
construction of offshore wind farms is undoubtedly more complex. But for investors it also offers the
opportunity to achieve higher returns than for other renewable energies - depending on the size of the
Project and their capital investment.
From your perspective, what underlying conditions need to apply for an institutional investor to invest in an offshore project?
For me there are several prerequisites. Ail the approvals must hâve been obtained for the planned offshore wind farm, and in particular the negotiations for ail the main contracts must hâve already begun
and they need to be at an advanced stage. The expérience and creditworthiness of the project developer or the utility who is driving the offshore wind farm, are certainly also important. It is an advantage
for the construction of an offshore wind farm if the number of companies involved is limited. This minimises the interface risk. What is really important in terms of obtaining the return you hope for, is an
attractive, stable national subsidy structure which is the case with the Butendiek project, for example.
If you were to rate the risk of making a capital investment in an offshore wind farm on a scale of nought to ten whereby 10 symbolises the highest risk, what figure would you give?
B to 8.
Marguerite Fund invested in the Belgian offshore wind farm, Thornton Bank, at the end of 2011. Did those negotiations influence
your thinking about also investing in Butendiek?
That can be answered quite clearly: Thanks to the negotiations regarding the Thornton Bank investment, we learnt a lot about the offshore wind industry and we understood it better. That definitely helped us to better analyse the opportunities and risks associated with Butendiek.
What return do you expect from your investment in the Butendiek offshore wind farm?
We expect a return commensurate with the risk.
Why has the Marguerite Fund invested in the Butendiek project? You must hâve had the option to invest in further offshore wind
farms - or to put it another way, what makes Butendiek so spécial for you?
There were several reasons for investing in Butendiek. Siemens Financial Services, the two Danish
pension funds, Industriens Pension and PKA A/S, and we represented a strong group of investors who
were also prepared to take on the construction risk of the project. That brings us as investors together.
In any case, our interests really match as far as Butendiek is concerned. Even if as investors we are
differently structured and hâve different motivations, I keep finding that our interests in Butendiek
really do coincide. Which I find really pleasing. We were really pleased that a sériés of well-known banks
were found which were ready to co-fînance Butendiek - that is a good sign. Finally, we were won over
by the professionalism and know-how of wpd as the project developer. In wpd's favour is the fact that
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Funds and Financial investors such as Marguerite are increasingly interested in investing in renewable
energy. That is why there hâve been a sériés of investments in wind farms on land in the past years. The
construction of offshore wind farms is undoubtedly more complex. But for investors it also offers the
opportunity to achieve higher returns than for other renewable energies - depending on the size of the
Project and their capital investment.
From your perspective, what underlying conditions need to apply for an institutional investor to invest in an offshore project?
For me there are several prerequisites. Ail the approvals must hâve been obtained for the planned offshore wind farm, and in particular the negotiations for ail the main contracts must hâve already begun
and they need to be at an advanced stage. The expérience and creditworthiness of the project developer or the utility who is driving the offshore wind farm, are certainly also important. It is an advantage
for the construction of an offshore wind farm if the number of companies involved is limited. This minimises the interface risk. What is really important in terms of obtaining the return you hope for, is an
attractive, stable national subsidy structure which is the case with the Butendiek project, for example.
If you were to rate the risk of making a capital investment in an offshore wind farm on a scale of nought to ten whereby 10 symbolises the highest risk, what figure would you give?
B to 8.
Marguerite Fund invested in the Belgian offshore wind farm, Thornton Bank, at the end of 2011. Did those negotiations influence
your thinking about also investing in Butendiek?
That can be answered quite clearly: Thanks to the negotiations regarding the Thornton Bank investment, we learnt a lot about the offshore wind industry and we understood it better. That definitely helped us to better analyse the opportunities and risks associated with Butendiek.
What return do you expect from your investment in the Butendiek offshore wind farm?
We expect a return commensurate with the risk.
Why has the Marguerite Fund invested in the Butendiek project? You must hâve had the option to invest in further offshore wind
farms - or to put it another way, what makes Butendiek so spécial for you?
There were several reasons for investing in Butendiek. Siemens Financial Services, the two Danish
pension funds, Industriens Pension and PKA A/S, and we represented a strong group of investors who
were also prepared to take on the construction risk of the project. That brings us as investors together.
In any case, our interests really match as far as Butendiek is concerned. Even if as investors we are
differently structured and hâve different motivations, I keep finding that our interests in Butendiek
really do coincide. Which I find really pleasing. We were really pleased that a sériés of well-known banks
were found which were ready to co-fînance Butendiek - that is a good sign. Finally, we were won over
by the professionalism and know-how of wpd as the project developer. In wpd's favour is the fact that
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