Tokyo-headquartered Sumitomo Corporation has signed a contract to invest alongside Macquarie Capital in the 336MW Galloper offshore wind farm.
Sumitomo will indirectly take a 12.5% stake in the project with the transaction due to complete in the coming months.
The equity sponsors of Galloper, RWE Innogy UK, Siemens Financial Services, UK Green Investment Bank plc and Macquarie Capital, achieved financial close in October 2015.
The project site is located in the North Sea, 27km off the coast of Suffolk, United Kingdom. The wind farm has a water depth of 27-36m and has been under construction since financial close.
The total cost of the Galloper project is approximately GBP 1.5 billion. The wind farm comprises of 56 wind turbines manufactured by the Siemens Group,supported by monopile foundations.
Commercial production is scheduled to commence in 2018 and is expected to provide clean energy for 25 years.
This is the fourth investment in offshore wind farms for Sumitomo. Prior to Galloper, the company invested in Belgium’s 165MW Belwind, 216MW Northwind, and 165MW Nobelwind in September 2014.
As one of the key business areas, Sumitomo is actively seeking offshore wind business opportunities in the UK, which has the biggest offshore wind market in the world. Sumitomo aims to continue development of off-shore wind farms in Europe and contribute to global sustainability, the company said in a release.