AIP investors invest three billion in Germany’s largest offshore wind farm

24 March 2023

PKA, PenSam, Storebrand, AkademikerPension and Lærnernes Pension together invest almost three billion kroner in what will be Germany’s largest offshore wind farm. The investment is both an important contribution to the green transition and to European security of supply.

The investment is carried out by the joint asset manager AIP Management and in partnership with the two financial heavyweights Allianz and Norges Bank.
Together, the parties are buying almost half of the upcoming 960 MW offshore wind farm in the North Sea.

The seller is the German energy giant EnBW, which itself retains just over half. EnBW will be responsible for the operation of the park, and the company will also be the customer of the power that the park will produce.

The project, which has been named He Dreiht, will be launched in 2023 and must start delivering green power in 2026. By then, it will be the largest operational offshore wind farm in Germany.

Green electricity for one million German households

He Dreiht will consist of 64 of Vestas’ new giant V236-15.0MW wind turbines. Each turbine will be taller than the pylons on the Great Belt Bridge, and together the park will supply green electricity to more than a million German households.

The park is thus a significant contribution to ensuring both the future German security of supply and the green transition of Europe’s energy sources.

Before Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the Russians accounted for about a fifth of the EU’s total energy needs and about a quarter of Germany’s energy needs.

In July 2022, the Federal Council in Germany voted to restart several of the country’s climate-burdening coal power plants to cover energy needs in the continuation of the war.

Therefore, there is an urgent need to develop green alternatives to secure energy for both the extensive German industry and the German consumers.

“We are very satisfied that we can make such an important investment both for the green transition, the European energy supply and for our members’ pensions. And even with two such significant players as Norges Bank and Allianz. It is a great recognition of the experience and skills that have been built up in the AIP partnership,” says Jon Johnsen, CEO of PKA.

“We live in turbulent times, and we also feel that as an investor on behalf of almost half a million members, whom we have to ensure financial security and predictability in senior life. With an investment like this, we achieve a trinity of a stable and long-term return, we contribute to ensuring energy independence in Europe, and we ensure that as a major responsible investor we contribute to and do not oppose the green transition and the obligations of the Paris Agreement,” says Torsten Fels, managing director of PenSam

“The UN’s latest climate report shows an enormous need for a green transition. That is why I am extremely satisfied that AIP is once again involved in an investment that ensures green electricity and that matches our responsibility policy,” says Jens Munch Holst, CEO of AkademikerPension.