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RWE and KKR Commit to £12 Billion Vanguard Wind Projects

lite News Desk 2 min read

RWE and KKR made a final investment commitment on 11 November 2026 for two offshore wind farms, Vanguard West and Vanguard East, according to the UK government. The government puts investment in the farms and their associated transmission infrastructure at £12 billion.

The sites lie between 50 and 80 kilometres from Norfolk in East Anglia. According to RWE, the designs provide for 1.4 gigawatts at each farm, bringing their combined planned capacity to 2.8 gigawatts. The government said their capacity, once operational, is expected to be equivalent to the electricity consumption of around three million UK homes.

RWE said work on land was already well advanced. Its schedule calls for offshore construction to begin in early 2027, with full commissioning of both projects expected in 2030. Across the construction and operating phases, the government estimates that the two developments will support more than 2,400 jobs.

Ownership is divided equally between RWE and KKR following KKR’s completed purchase of a 50% equity interest in each farm, according to RWE. The company said the transaction established their 50:50 joint venture, for which RWE is to lead project delivery.

RWE also confirmed financial close for the projects. A group of 35 international banks arranged cash facilities totalling £11.1 billion, alongside ancillary facilities of £1.7 billion, according to the company. These are the financing facility amounts reported by RWE, while the £12 billion investment figure comes from the government.

The financing package also includes a commitment of £1 billion from the National Wealth Fund, RWE said. Credit cover is provided by Euler Hermes of Germany and Denmark’s EIFO.

The projects received Contracts for Difference in January 2026, according to RWE. Those awards run for 20 years and are indexed for inflation, with a strike price set at £91.20 per megawatt-hour, expressed in 2024 prices.

Under the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero’s description of the scheme, generators receive an indexed rate for the electricity they produce. The payment calculation uses the difference between the strike price agreed in the contract and a reference price from the wholesale electricity market.

* This article is based on publicly available information at the time of writing.

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