BERLIN, Aug. 13 (Xinhua) -- Innogy will join forces with two Japanese partners to develop a brand-new wind park off the northeast coast of Britain, the German renewable energy provider announced on Monday.
According to Innogy, J-Power and Kansai Electric Power will acquire 25 percent and 16 percent respectively of the 2.3 billion-euro (2.6 billion U.S. dollar) project while Innogy retains a 59 percent stake.
The "Triton Knoll" offshore wind park has a planned capacity of 860 megawatt, making it one of the largest of its kind in the world. The park is scheduled to become operational as of 2021, supplying up to 800,000 households with electricity.
The investment by Innogy is still subject to approval from the RWE subsidiary's supervisory board and further financial planning.
A statement by Innogy chief operating officer (COO) Hans Buenting said the company would continue to seek strategic partnerships for its international offshore portfolio in spite of the looming dismantling of Innogy in a major German energy sector reshuffle.
Rival energy provider E.ON wants to acquire Innogy completely and is offering its parent company RWE a stake in its own business in exchange for the 76.8 percent of the renewables subsidiary. E.ON would then take over Innogy's lucrative grid business, while its renewable energy generation would become concentrated under the corporate umbrella of RWE. As a consequence, Innogy will cease to exist.
The 20-billion-euro deal has largely been welcomed by German policymakers and trade unions as an example of positive corporate restructuring.
