The developer behinds plans for a £1.3 billion offshore wind array off the Fife coast has sold a quarter stake in its business for £87 million.
Mainstream Renewable Power confirmed a deal with the Marubeni Corporation that will see the Japanese conglomerate take an approximately 25% holding in the Irish-based wind and solar energy developer.
The move is the single largest investment received by Mainstream since it was founded in 2008.
Marubeni will now have a seat on the board alongside Barclays, which invested in the company as a start-up.
The firm has more than 19GW of developments in progress across the globe, including the planned 450MW Neart na Gaoithe windfarm nine miles off the coast of Fife.
The project, one of three major wind arrays planned for the outer Tay and Forth estuaries, is at a crucial stage having received planning permission for its onshore grid connection works in June.
Mainstream is awaiting approvals for the offshore infrastructure element of the project a maximum of 90 turbines to be built in water depths of around 50 metres from Marine Scotland before construction can begin.
It is anticipated a decision will be made by the agency, a Scottish Government directorate, by the end of this year.
The project will be capable of powering enough homes for a city the size of Edinburgh. It would create hundreds of direct and indirect jobs during the construction phase and sustain a smaller number of posts once fully operational.
The onshore works are due to begin next year and take two years to construct, while Mainstream expects the offshore array to be fully installed and generating electricity by 2017.
The firm yesterday said its new financial backing by Marubeni which has a diverse business portfolio ranging from food products to chemicals, already has offshore wind interests in Europe, and is involved in the electricity supply sector in the UK signalled the start of a long-term alliance that will see the two companies work closely together on projects across the world.
Chief executive Eddie O’Connor said the tie-up with Marubeni was a landmark for Mainstream and would help push forward its development projects.
“This investment is a game-changer for Mainstream, allowing us to focus on accelerating our project portfolios across a range of markets as well as entering into new strategic jurisdictions which present strong value opportunities for our business.
“Having grown our company in the midst of the global financial crises, this type of long-term strategic investment is true testament to the strength and experience of our team as well as the quality and spread of our global project portfolio,” he said.
Hiroshi Tachigami, president of London-based Marubeni Europower, said: “Marubeni is delighted to seize the opportunity with the right company at the right time in the global renewable energy businesses.
“This is a strong partnership as Mainstream and Marubeni see our future overlap in many areas.”
He said they were excited to work together, complementing each other in areas including “entry into new market territories, delivery of pre-consenting projects, structuring capital solutions, all of which are vital in accelerating the growth of Mainstream and Marubeni Power”.