Something in the wind

Swedish state-owned energy firm Vattenfall has bought all of the assets of AMEC Wind Energy in a £126.6m deal.

Vattenfall and AMEC have also entered into an alliance to develop the existing wind projects in the AMEC portfolio, and to develop new wind projects in the UK.

In the UK, Vattenfall already owns and operates the Kentish Flats offshore wind farm, which has a capacity of 90MW, and has recently announced it intends to make an offer to acquire Eclipse Energy, which is currently developing several wind projects in the UK.

It is also the world's second largest offshore wind power operator, with a 60 per cent stake in Horns Rev, the world's largest offshore wind facility off Denmark's Jutland Peninsula and 100 per cent of the world's third largest offshore wind farm, Lillgrund, between Sweden and Denmark.

For its part, AMEC Wind owns one of the largest wind development portfolios in the UK with a potential of 573MW. Its onshore portfolio in the UK represents 6.5 per cent of UK consented and in-development onshore projects, while its Scottish onshore portfolio represents 9.9 per cent of Scottish consented and in-planning onshore projects.

Should all of the projects come to fruition, the net annual production of the portfolio would be approximately 2TWh, supplying electricity to approximately 400,000 households.

Vattenfall, Europe's fifth largest generator of electricity, aims to produce approximately 50TWh from wind power by 2030, providing renewable electricity to approximately 10m households.