Norfolk offshore wind farms sold to RWE for £1bn

Swedish energy giant Vattenfall paused work on one of the three projects, Norfolk Boreas, in the summer

The rights to develop three of Britain's largest wind farms have been sold by Swedish company Vattenfall to German rival RWE for nearly £1bn.

The projects are known collectively as the Norfolk Offshore Wind Zone.

Earlier this year, Vattenfall paused work on one of the sites, Norfolk Boreas, saying it was no longer financially viable.

Chief executive Anna Borg said: "Today's agreement with RWE is great news for the UK's energy security."

All three sites have government consent to go ahead.

When built they will supply 4.2 gigawatts of power to the UK's grid - about the amount that four million households consume.

The sale will allow Vattenfall to invest in other projects which are "more appropriate to our current risk appetite", said its CEO

In July, Vattenfall stopped work on the Norfolk Boreas site, about 50 miles (80km) off Cromer, saying the cost of building a wind farm had soared by about 40%.

The two other sites, known as Vanguard East and Vanguard West, were also to be reviewed.

Last year, the company won the right to supply power to the grid from Boreas for £37.35 per MWh - a record low for offshore wind.

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Since then, the price paid to generate electricity by offshore wind farms has been raised by more than 50%, as the government tries to entice energy firms to invest.

Vattenfall will stay in the UK as it still runs on and offshore wind farms and is developing a nearly 800 MW floating wind farm in the North Sea.

Ms Borg said: "Both the UK and the offshore market remain attractive over the long term, and we will focus our offshore investments in projects which are appropriate to our current risk appetite while continuing to operate and grow our existing fleet of assets."

The UK is a world leader in offshore wind and is home to the world's five largest farms, supporting tens of thousands of jobs. They provided 13.8% of the UK's electricity generation last year, according to government statistics.