The importance of the wind energy sector in the United Kingdom has been expanding for years and is continuing to do so: The generation of electricity from wind power has grown by 715% from 2009 to 2020. This has caused the country’s turnover from wind energy to be at almost £6 billion in 2019 which makes it an immensely profitable industry. As of 2023, the UK had a total installed capacity of 28GW from over 11 thousand wind turbines, with 14 GW onshore and 14 GW offshore wind. Wind power is the biggest source of renewable electricity in the UK. As one of the best locations for wind power worldwide, it comes as no surprise that a lot of companies seek to invest into wind power in the United Kingdom. For this article, our team chose three particularly interesting investors to present to you. This article is based on our top 50 list of renewable energy investors from the UK.
1) Schroders Greencoat (London, UK)
Founded in 1997, the London-based company exclusively invests into renewable energy. This includes onshore and offshore wind, solar and biomass assets. The investment firm‘s leading renewable infrastructure fund Greencoat UK Wind PLC specialises in operational wind assets that are located in the United Kingdom. Currently, the renewable infrastructure fund is invested in 45 wind farms in the UK. Together, the farms have a total generating capacity of over 1.6GW.
2) Ørsted (Frederica, Denmark)
Up to date, the Danish energy company Orsted has invested approximately 14 billion GBP in wind farms in the UK to date. Still, it plans on spending another 14 billion until 2030. Ørsted fully or partly owns several offshore wind farms in the UK, reaching a total capacity of 6.2 GW. Most likely one of the most known wind energy assets of Orsted is the largest operating offshore wind farm in the world Hornsea 2, which is located 89 kilometres off the coast of Yorkshire in the North Sea. Hornsea 2 has a capacity of 1,386 MW and was commissioned in 2022. Hornsea 1, with commission in 2019, has a capacity 1,218 MW. Still, Orsted has an even larger vision with Hornsea 3.
3) EDP Renewables (Madrid, Spain)
EDP Renewables is a subsidiary of the french company EDF group. The subsidiary specialises in renewable energy production which includes the development and financing of the construction of renewable energy assets, as well as the management of operations and maintenance. Active in 22 countries with wind energy as the largest sector, the developer has an installed global capacity of over 14GW. In October 2021, the Madrid-based group announced their intention to invest up to £660m in wind and solar energy in the UK. By 2025, the company aims to have 5 to 7GW in operation or construction, as well as 5 to 10GW of projects in the latter stages of development.
Image Source: Thomas Reaubourg via Unsplash (20.04.2023)
