Norges Bank Investment Management (NBIM), the investment manager for Norway’s $1.8 trillion oil fund announced today that it has acquired a 49% stake in two offshore wind construction projects located in Denmark and Germany from German power producer RWE for approximately €1.4 billion (USD$1.5 billion).

NBIM said that it expects that its share in constructing the wind farms will be approximately €4 billion. According to RWE, once fully commissioned, the two projects are expected to produce enough electricity to supply a total of more than 2.6 million households in Germany and Denmark.

The transaction includes the Nordseecluster, a 1.6 GW project in the eastern part of the German North Sea, and Thor, a 1.1 GW project in the Danish North Sea. Nordseecluster is being built in two phases, with construction at sea scheduled to begin in 2025, full commissioning for the first phase planned for 2027, and for the second phase in 2029. Thor, Denmark’s largest offshore wind farm to date, is scheduled for full commissioning in 2027.

RWE said that it will retain a 51% stake in the projects, and will remain in charge of construction and operations throughout the lifecycle of the offshore wind farms. In a statement announcing the transaction, RWE CEO Markus Krebber reiterated that active portfolio management forms part of the company’s “systematic approach to optimise our capital allocation for our offshore wind business.”

Krebber added:

“By selling down and entering partnerships for our projects, we reduce our capital employed for projects under construction and our partner gets stakes in highly attractive projects.”