The UK’s debt-laden Thurrock Council in Essex has put on the block its minority stakes in two offshore wind farms with a combined capacity of about 530 MW, sources familiar with the transaction have told Infralogic.

The assets include the council’s 7.8% stake in the 317 MW Sheringham Shoal offshore wind farm off the Norfolk coast and a 4.8% stake in the 210 MW Westermost Rough wind farm off the Holderness coast in the North Sea, England, sources said.

The council, which is actively divesting its investments to overhaul its financial health, is working with Green Giraffe as its financial advisor on the sale, code-named “Project Delta.”

Sheringham Shoal, which started operations in 2012, is backed and operated by Norwegian energy giant Equinor among other shareholders such as Macquarie’s Green Investment Group and Equitix.

The second wind farm, Westermost Rough, started operations in 2015 and is backed and operated by Danish energy company Orsted and its backers also include Marubeni Corporation and Equitix – which bought the stake from Macquarie in 2023.

Thurrock Council and Green Giraffe did not respond to queries, while Equinor and Orsted declined to comment for the article.

Thurrock Council started a divestment process in 2022 after it had amassed a debt of around GBP 1.5bn, following a string of failed investment decisions. In September 2022, it drew government intervention.

Among the council’s notable investments was solar energy developer Toucan Energy Holdings which went into administration in 2022. Interpath was appointed as the administrator for Toucan after it was found that Toucan’s “liabilities exceeded its assets”. Toucan owed GBP 655m to Thurrock Council at the time.

Earlier this year, after an auction process, Schroders Greencoat bought Toucan’s solar portfolio for GBP 700m. The sale reduced Thurrock’s debt position by more than GBP 500m.

Last month, in a meeting held by the council, it said that it had received GBP 513m from divestments in the past year, which largely came from the sale of Toucan. The money has been used to pay back loans the council had, it noted.

This financial year, the council plans to raise about GBP 90m from divestments, with the majority to come from “selling the council’s share in the wind farms,” it said. The council has also revealed a Corporate Plan last month for 2024-2029 – called “A fresh start for Thurrock” which sets out how the council will operate over the next five years as it recovers and rebuilds trust.