Norges Bank has bought 37.5% of Race Bank, a 573 MW offshore wind farm off the Norfolk coast, from Macquarie and Spring Infrastructure Capital. The headline value is about $1.2 billion. Only about a third of that was paid for shares. The rest is a liability the buyer takes on rather than cash it hands over.
Key takeaways
- Norges Bank announced on 17 June 2024 that it had acquired a 37.5% stake in the 573 MW Race Bank offshore wind farm in the UK from Macquarie and Spring Infrastructure Capital; the agreement was signed on 9 April 2024 and completed on 14 June 2024.
- The Race Bank stake carries an enterprise value of $1,235.5 million, made up of an equity value of $418.6 million and $816.92 million of debt proportional to Norges Bank Investment Management's 37.5% share.
- The Race Bank transaction values the wind farm at an enterprise value of about $3.3 billion on a 100% basis, or roughly $5.75 million per MW of capacity.
- Race Bank has been operational since February 2018 with 91 Siemens Gamesa 6 MW turbines and receives 1.8 Renewables Obligation Certificates per MWh on top of the market price until 2037.
- After the Norges Bank deal, Race Bank is owned 50% by Orsted, 37.5% by Norges Bank and 12.5% by Arjun Infrastructure Partners.
Who sold Race Bank, and how was the stake put together?
Two sellers made up one stake. Macquarie sold its 25% through Macquarie European Infrastructure Fund 5 and left the project entirely. Spring Infrastructure 1 Investment Limited Partnership, a fund managed by Spring Infrastructure Capital, sold the other 12.5%. Together they form the 37.5% Norges Bank now holds.
In October 2023, Enerdatics identified that Macquarie was considering selling its 25% stake. The agreement was signed six months later.
Macquarie's history with the project is long. It bought 50% of Race Bank during construction in 2016, in a transaction whose $2 billion of proceeds included a commitment to fund half of the project's capital spending, transmission assets included. It sold half of that position in 2017. The project itself has changed hands at very different prices over its life. In December 2013, Centrica sold 100% of the project to Orsted for $82.19 million, a month after it failed to make the shortlist for an early contract for difference.
Why is two thirds of the price debt?
Because Norges Bank bought into a project that had borrowed against its own cash flow, and an enterprise value counts that borrowing. Enterprise value is the price of the equity plus the debt that comes with it. It measures what the whole business is worth to all its funders, not just what the buyer pays the seller.
At Race Bank, the debt attributed to the 37.5% stake is $816.92 million, about two thirds of the $1,235.5 million headline. Leap records that in December 2018 Macquarie, through Firebolt Holdings, arranged a $1.4 billion syndicated loan to refinance existing debt on the project. The record does not say how much of that loan remains outstanding today.
The split matters because it changes every comparison. Grossed up to 100%, the equity alone is worth about $1.12 billion, or roughly $1.95 million per MW. The enterprise value, grossed up, is about $3.3 billion, or roughly $5.75 million per MW. Both numbers describe the same deal. Comparing either one with a figure from another deal only works if the other figure measures the same thing.
What does Race Bank earn, and for how long?
Race Bank earns the market price for its power plus a subsidy that runs until 2037. The subsidy comes from Renewables Obligation Certificates, known as ROCs. A ROC is a certificate the UK issues to renewable generators for their output, which electricity suppliers must buy or pay a penalty for not holding. Race Bank receives 1.8 ROCs for every MWh it generates.
The value of each certificate is set by a buy-out price. In September 2023, the UK government introduced a fixed price ROC policy to make that value more stable, and Ofgem set the buy-out price for the 2024 to 2025 obligation period at $82 per ROC. On that basis, Enerdatics calculates the value of Race Bank's 1.8 ROCs at $147.78 per MWh, paid on top of whatever the power itself sells for.
The power is also contracted. Northumbrian Water Group buys output under a 10-year power purchase agreement, and Nestle buys 31 MW under a 15-year agreement. Taken together, the stake comes with roughly 13 years of subsidy left at the time of the deal and two named corporate buyers for part of the output.
There is an irony in that. Race Bank failed to make the shortlist for an early contract for difference in 2013. It ended up supported by the ROC regime instead, and that regime is now a large part of why the project is worth what Norges Bank paid.
Enerdatics records 28 UK offshore wind M&A deals announced between January 2023 and June 2025, of which 15 carry a disclosed value. At $1,235.5 million, Race Bank had the largest headline value among them when it was announced, ahead of RWE's $1,220.5 million for the Norfolk portfolio and PTTEP's $1,096.5 million for a quarter of Seagreen. Two later deals have since passed it: Brookfield's $2,272 million for 12.45% of a 3.5 GW Orsted portfolio, and Masdar's $2,947.1 million for half of East Anglia 3. Grossed up to 100% on headline values, sales of stakes in operating farms spread widely: about $3.31 million per MW for Lynn and Inner Dowsing, $4.64 million for Moray East, $5.85 million for London Array and $6.39 million for West of Duddon Sands. Race Bank, at about $5.75 million, sits in the upper half. Headline values in this group mix equity prices and enterprise values, so the ranking is a guide rather than a like-for-like comparison.
What does the deal signal for UK offshore wind?
It signals a steady handover of operating offshore wind from funds with a fixed life to owners with longer holding periods. Macquarie's sale came from a numbered fund, and the exit was complete. The same pattern shows up elsewhere: Macquarie has sold another tenth of East Anglia ONE, and buyers from outside the traditional utility world keep arriving, as PTTEP's purchase of a quarter of Seagreen showed.
It also signals that subsidy end dates are moving into view. Race Bank's ROCs run to 2037, so every year of ownership brings the farm closer to selling at market prices alone. A buyer paying close to the top of the operating range is making a judgement about what the farm will earn after the certificates stop, as well as before.
Finally, the deal is a reminder to check what a headline number contains. Read as an equity price, Race Bank looks moderate. Read as an enterprise value, it is one of the higher prints in the UK market.
Frequently asked questions
Who bought the stake in the Race Bank offshore wind farm? Norges Bank acquired a 37.5% stake in the 573 MW Race Bank offshore wind farm in June 2024, buying 25% from Macquarie and 12.5% from a fund managed by Spring Infrastructure Capital.
How much did Norges Bank pay for Race Bank? The stake carries an enterprise value of $1,235.5 million, of which $418.6 million is equity and $816.92 million is the stake's share of debt. On a 100% basis the deal values Race Bank at about $3.3 billion.
Who owns Race Bank after the sale? Orsted owns 50%, Norges Bank owns 37.5% and Arjun Infrastructure Partners owns 12.5%.
Ready to get deal-ready answers in seconds? Try Enerdatics Leap AI and access verified intelligence across M&A, financings, PPAs, projects, and energy market developments through natural language.
.jpeg)
