PTT Exploration and Production, known as PTTEP, has agreed to buy a 25.5 percent stake in Seagreen, Scotland's 1,075 MW offshore wind farm, from TotalEnergies. Three years earlier TotalEnergies paid $165.1 million for twice that share. The new price for half as much equity is $689 million, and the reason has little to do with wind speeds.
Key takeaways
- TotalEnergies agreed on 21 December 2023 to sell a 25.5 percent stake in the 1,075 MW Seagreen offshore wind farm in the UK to PTT Exploration and Production (PTTEP) at an enterprise value of $1.09 billion, comprising a purchase price of $689 million for the equity interest.
- The PTTEP transaction values 100 percent of Seagreen at an enterprise value of $4.3 billion, about $4.0 million per MW, and at 13 times the project's anticipated average EBITDA over the next five years.
- TotalEnergies acquired a 51 percent stake in Seagreen from SSE Renewables in June 2020 for $165.1 million, made up of $88.9 million paid at closing and earn-outs of up to $76.2 million subject to performance conditions.
- After the sale, SSE Renewables holds 49 percent of Seagreen, with TotalEnergies and PTTEP holding 25.5 percent each.
- Seagreen, located about 27 kilometres off the coast of Scotland with 114 turbines, began generating electricity in October 2023 and holds a 15-year Contract for Difference for 454 MW at a strike price of $45.96 per MWh.
Why is PTTEP paying so much more than TotalEnergies did?
The two prices bought different things. In June 2020 Seagreen had just reached a final investment decision and financial close, with construction ahead of it. The project represented a total investment of around $3.7 billion. TotalEnergies' $165.1 million bought a majority stake in a project that still had to be built, and its partners still had to fund that construction.
By December 2023 the building was done. Seagreen had started producing power two months earlier. PTTEP is buying a share of an operating asset whose construction risk has passed and whose capital has already been spent.
Grossing both prices up to 100 percent shows the scale of the change. TotalEnergies' 2020 price implies about $324 million for all of Seagreen's equity. PTTEP's 2023 price implies about $2.7 billion, more than eight times as much. Much of that gap is likely to reflect the construction equity the shareholders put in after 2020, so it should not be read as a pure profit for TotalEnergies.
The 2020 terms also show how much risk TotalEnergies was still carrying then. Only $88.9 million was paid at closing, with up to $76.2 million more depending on performance. Beyond the 454 MW CfD, a further 30 percent of capacity was to be contracted under a private CfD with the SSE Group, and the agreement included a potential extension of up to 360 MW. In 2020 the price was conditional. By 2023 the asset was proven.
What makes Seagreen 'low-risk' in PTTEP's view?
Leap records that the investment is considered low risk because of the project's operational phase, stable cash flow, partnerships with experienced global players and supportive UK policies. Two features of Seagreen's revenue support that view.
The first is the Contract for Difference. A CfD guarantees a fixed strike price for 15 years: if market prices fall below it, the government pays the difference, and if they rise above it, the generator pays back. Seagreen's CfD covers 454 MW, about 42 percent of its capacity.
The second is corporate offtake. In July 2020 Statkraft signed a long-term PPA to buy 50 percent of the power Seagreen generates. In 2021 SSE and TotalEnergies launched a further offer of five year corporate PPAs, shorter than the ten year standard for offshore corporate contracts, sold in blocks of 20 MW or 100 GWh a year. The shorter term gives buyers more flexibility and potentially lower risk.
Construction financing was already in place before PTTEP arrived. In 2020 SSE secured $390 million for construction from EKF Danmarks Eksportkredit and 12 commercial banks, and in 2022 it issued a $664.08 million green bond maturing in August 2029 at a 2.875 percent coupon, with proceeds funding projects including Seagreen.
How does $4.0 million per MW compare with UK peers?
The per MW figure here needs care. Leap's headline value for this deal is the enterprise value attributable to the 25.5 percent stake. Measured against all 1,075 MW, that would suggest about $1.0 million per MW, a misleadingly low figure. The correct comparison uses the $4.3 billion valuation for 100 percent, which gives about $4.0 million per MW.
Enerdatics' data shows that operational UK offshore wind transactions announced between January 2022 and June 2025 had a median value of $5.8 million per MW across 12 priced deals, with a lower quartile of $4.63 million per MW. Seagreen at about $4.0 million per MW sits below that lower quartile. For context, Masdar's later East Anglia 3 stake, a project still in construction, was valued at about $4.21 million per MW. One explanation consistent with the record is that 58 percent of Seagreen's capacity sits outside the CfD, and buyers price that partly contracted output below fully supported peers.
What does the deal signal for offshore wind ownership?
The first signal is a clear division of labour. Developers and oil majors take construction risk, then sell down to investors who want operating cash flow. TotalEnergies bought into Seagreen at financial close and is selling half its stake within months of first power. SSE keeps its 49 percent.
The second is the arrival of exploration and production companies as buyers of operating European offshore wind. PTTEP's stake comes with a memorandum of understanding with TotalEnergies to expand collaboration in offshore wind and clean energy. PTTEP plans to use its offshore project management expertise and existing partnerships.
The third is that equity value at the operational stage is set by contracted cash flow. Seagreen combines a partial CfD with corporate PPAs, and it priced below the median for operating UK projects. Owners of other partly contracted offshore assets should be ready for buyers to make the same comparison.
Frequently asked questions
Who advised TotalEnergies on the Seagreen sale? Watson Farley & Williams acted as legal advisor to TotalEnergies.
Has the PTTEP acquisition of the Seagreen stake completed? Leap records the transaction as subject to applicable governmental and regulatory approvals, with no completion update logged on the record.
How many homes can Seagreen supply? Seagreen's 114 turbines can provide enough electricity to power more than 1.6 million homes, and the project is expected to displace over 2 million tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions.
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