By Dominic Chopping 
 

Norges Bank Investment Management, the arm of Norway's central bank that manages the country's $1.3 trillion oil fund, said Wednesday it has agreed to make its first investment in unlisted renewable energy infrastructure, paying 1.375 billion euros ($1.63 billion) for a 50% stake in a Dutch offshore wind farm.

Norges Bank Investment Management said it will buy the stake in the Borssele 1 & 2 offshore wind farm from Denmark's Orsted AS, who will remain co-owner and operator of the project.

Borssele 1 & 2 consists of 94 Siemens Gamesa 8 megawatt offshore wind turbines located 23 kilometres off the coast of the Dutch region of Zeeland. The wind farm has an installed capacity of 752 megawatts and produces energy equivalent to the annual electricity consumption of around one million Dutch households.

The project was fully commissioned in the fourth quarter of 2020.

"The acquisition is in line with our strategy to build a high-quality portfolio of wind and solar power generation assets," said Mie Holstad, Chief Real Assets Officer at Norges Bank Investment Management.

"The unlisted renewable energy infrastructure strategy supplements our existing unlisted real estate portfolio well, and we draw on our long experience with direct investments," she added.

The agreement was signed on April 7, with completion expected in the second or third quarter of 2021.

Write to Dominic Chopping at dominic.chopping@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

April 07, 2021 05:55 ET (09:55 GMT)