Mubadala invests in world’s largest private offshore wind energy developer

Mubadala Investment Company, the Abu Dhabi-based sovereign investor managing a global portfolio of assets valued at US $284 billion (bn), has acquired a stake in Skyborn Renewables, the world’s largest private offshore wind developer, alongside Global Infrastructure Partners (“GIP”).

The acquisition of a 100 per cent interest in Skyborn Renewables provides GIP and co-investors, including Mubadala, with access to the largest private offshore wind developer globally with a long track record of development and an established presence in Europe and Asia Pacific.

Headquartered in Bremen, Germany, Skyborn Renewables has an offshore wind track record of more than 7GW developed to date, and a portfolio of operating and under-construction projects in Germany, France, and Taiwan. The group currently has a 30GW pipeline of high diversified offshore wind projects in various stages of development.

The investment by Mubadala also includes the acquisition of a stake in GIP’s 50% interest in NY Bight Project called Bluepoint Wind, an innovative 1.6GW offshore project in the U.S. that will provide investors with immediate access to the growing U.S. offshore wind market.

Offshore wind is expected to be one of the fastest growing renewable energy sectors over the next 15 years, with the current 27GW installed capacity set to grow to 290GW by 2035. The forecasted growth of the offshore wind market will require annual investments of $50bn.

Khaled Abdulla Al Qubaisi, Chief Executive Officer of Real Estate and Infrastructure Investments at Mubadala, said: “Offshore wind is one of the most attractive and fastest growing segments within renewables, with the sector expected to grow 10-fold in the next decade. Wind energy is an important component of the transition to clean, renewable power and as a responsible investor, we at Mubadala are proud to be a part of a consortium that is playing a leading role in addressing the global challenges of the climate crisis and energy security.”

The Skyborn Renewables and Bluepoint Wind investments are part of Mubadala’s rapidly growing clean and sustainable energy portfolio. In April this year, Mubadala was part of a BlackRock Real Assets-led consortium which agreed to invest $525m into the renewable energy arm of India’s Tata Power. Tata Power Renewable Energy, which will play a key part in India’s energy transition, is planning to increase its current 4.9GW clean energy capacity to more than 20GW over the next five years.