Dutch transmission system operator TenneT (owned by the Dutch government) and Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners (CIP) have announced a €384 million (US$528 million) investment deal in the DolWin3 offshore grid connection for wind farms in the German North Sea.

TenneT will finance the largest portion of the construction costs, which are expected to amount to €1.9 billion (US$2.6 billion). TenneT will also build and operate DolWin3.

Christian Skakkebæk, a senior partner in CIP, stated:

We have entered into an attractive and long-term partnership with one of the key players in the European energy transmission market. Moreover, with this investment, we contribute to the development of the infrastructure in one of the strongest economies in Europe.

The investment complements our other investments in energy assets. With the stable German framework for the regulated infrastructure sector, as well as TenneT being a strong and experienced operator, the investment will ensure a strong and experienced operator, the investment will ensure a solid and stable return for many years to come.

The DolWin3 project is the third connection in the DolWin cluster. The distance from the wind farms to the coast is about 83 kilometres. The grid connection then runs for another 79 kilometres on land to the converter station at Dörpen West, which will serve as the onshore electricity grid coupling point. The connection is expected to be completed by late 2017.

DolWin3 is planned to be completed in 2017 and the system will have a total capacity of 900 MW. The investment is subject to the approval of the German competition authorities.

Danish pension fund, PensionDanmark, created Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners in October 2012 and invested 800 million euros in the fund. The fund targets electricity transmission, water supply and biomass-based power generation assets in Europe and the United States.

In November, PensionDanmark invested approx. US$230 million in the NGT natural gas pipeline in the Netherlands, and in August, PensionDanmark invested approx. £128 million via the fund Copenhagen Infrastructure I in a new biomass power plant in the UK. The investment was made in a joint venture with Burmeister & Wain Scandinavian Contractors.

PensionDanmark aims to increase its allocation of investment in infrastructure and real estate to 20 per cent of its total assets of approx. DKK 150 billion (€20 billion).