Enbridge has agreed to acquire a 50% interest in Éolien Maritime France (EMF), a French offshore wind development company, for an investment of CAN$ 282 million inclusive of transaction costs and past and future pre-Final Investment Decision (FID) development costs. EMF will be co-owned with EDF Energies Nouvelles (EDF EN). Closing of the acquisition is expected to occur on or about May 19.
Enbridge and EDF EN will co-develop three large-scale offshore wind farms off the coast of France that would produce a combined 1,428MW of power. Development of the three projects is already underway; however construction is still subject to FID and regulatory approvals. Each of the three wind projects has been awarded a 20-year Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) pursuant to which EDF, the power offtaker under the PPAs, will pay an indexed fixed price for 100% of the power generated by each facility. Subject to Enbridge taking positive FID on each project individually, the company would potentially invest up to CAN$ 4.5 billion in total for all three projects. Should the projects achieve FID, construction would start gradually from 2017 and continue the next five years through 2022.
