RWE and KKR reach financial close on a £12 billion pair of wind farms off Norfolk
Financial close on Vanguard West and Vanguard East locks in about 2.8 gigawatts of new North Sea capacity, the biggest project financing yet put together for British offshore wind, with £1 billion of it coming from the National Wealth Fund.
Two of the largest offshore wind farms planned for British waters have secured their money. RWE and the investment firm KKR said on Wednesday that financial close had been reached for Vanguard West and Vanguard East, a pair of projects in the North Sea off Norfolk backed by a total investment of around £12 billion, covering construction of the farms themselves and the transmission links that go with them.
Each farm is rated at 1.4 gigawatts, giving the pair a combined capacity of about 2.8 gigawatts. The companies put the eventual output at the equivalent of supplying roughly three million homes. The Government, which announced the milestone on the same day, described the £12 billion as believed to be the biggest investment of its kind in this country to date, and said it would support more than 2,400 jobs while the farms are built and run.
The announcement also completes the ownership deal the two firms set out in January. KKR has taken a half share in each project, leaving a 50:50 joint venture in which RWE will lead delivery. Both partners are putting in equity alongside borrowed money raised on a non-recourse basis, meaning lenders look to the projects themselves for repayment.
This major investment in UK renewables is a vote of confidence for building in Britain.Andy Burnham, Prime Minister, in the Government release of 11 November 2026
That borrowing is the record element of the package: £11.1 billion of cash facilities plus £1.7 billion of ancillary facilities from 35 international banks, which RWE called the largest project financing yet assembled for offshore wind in the UK. Within it sits a £1 billion commitment from the National Wealth Fund, the publicly owned policy bank, alongside credit cover from Euler Hermes of Germany and EIFO of Denmark. For the National Wealth Fund, and for Euler Hermes, it is a first involvement in financing a British offshore wind project.
The farms already have their route to market. In Allocation Round 7 in January 2026 each won a Contract for Difference lasting 20 years, index linked, at a strike price of £91.20 per megawatt hour in 2024 prices. The Prime Minister, Andy Burnham, welcomed the close ahead of his travel to the COP31 leaders summit in Türkiye, arguing that turbines in home waters put power under British control rather than at the mercy of events elsewhere. The Energy Secretary, Miatta Fahnbulleh, said the spending showed confidence in homegrown clean energy and was rebuilding industry while cutting bills over time.
Work on land is furthest along: the cable route and substations are well advanced, according to RWE, and building work at sea is due to start in early 2027. The first foundations for Vanguard West are planned for the first half of that year, with Vanguard East following, and both farms are expected to be fully commissioned in 2030. The Government used the announcement to point to a new Energy Wealth Fund, tied to future North Sea revenues and starting with a £2 billion injection, and to the Energy Independence Bill introduced last week.
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