Lego, one of the world’s biggest toy makers, is taking a big stake in offshore wind.
Lego’s parent company, Denmark-based Kirkbi A/S, is taking a 32% stake in DONG Energy’s offshore wind farm in Germany.
They’re investing $534 million in the 277 megawatt (MW) Borkum Riffgrund 1 wind farm, which begins construction in 2013 and starts producing electricity the following year.
This is the first time a corporation is a major investor in a wind farm, which are usually financed by institutional investors.
The investment will power all of Lego’s operations through 2020 while providing a solid long term investment with consistent returns.
Even though Lego will be able to put a label on its products certifying its energy comes from wind, the power from the project will go into German’s grid, not directly to the company.
Even with its sizable investment portfolio, Kirbi views this investment as a big one – its first foray into energy, CEO Soren Thorup Sorensen told Reuters..
Developer DONG Energy is a German state-owned oil and gas producer, which is selling 50% of the project. DONG is the world’s leader developer of offshore wind farms – it has 1.3
gigawatts (GW) in operation and about the same amount under construction.
The Borkum Riffgrund 1 wind farm will supply energy for 285,000 households and will be built with 77 turbines manufactured by Siemens rated at 3.6 MW.
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