Saudi Arabia’s PIF Acquires 9.5% Stake in Offshore Wind Player Skyborn Renewables

The Public Investment Fund (PIF), the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, has announced the acquisition of up to 9.5% in Germany based offshore wind developer and operator Skyborn Renewables, alongside Global Infrastructure Partners (GIP) which is a global, independent infrastructure investment fund.

The Saudi Government has said that the investment will allow PIF to participate in the acceleration of energy transition and clean energy at an international scale through an investment in a geographically diversified offshore wind energy platform.

The Skyborn platform includes interests in operating and under-construction projects in Germany, France and Taiwan as well as a pipeline of over 30 GW of diversified offshore wind projects in various stages of development. Skyborn has more than 20 years of development experience, a track record of over 7.0 GW of capacity developed to-date, and a presence in over 15 European and APAC markets.

PIF claims to have a strong track record of investing in the low carbon sector such as electric vehicles and solar energy projects, as part of a commitment to develop 70% of Saudi Arabia’s renewable energy by 2030.

PIF has made some key investments in RE companies such as ACWA Power and the Sudair and Al Shuaibah Solar Energy projects, and in the development of electric vehicles through investments in E1, Lucid Motors and Ceer.

In 2021, PIF and Saudi Tadawul Group announced the Voluntary Carbon Market (VCM) Initiative, which in October 2022 held an inaugural auction of 1.4 million tons of carbon credits, the largest-ever carbon credit sale.

Turqi A. Alnowaiser, Head of the International Investments Division, PIF, said, “Offshore wind has a key role to play in driving global decarbonization and we see significant growth opportunities for Skyborn. Our partnership with Skyborn and GIP will help drive the development of innovative sustainable technology, which positions Saudi Arabia as an enabler of industries of the future and the creator of new opportunities.”

Matt Harris, Founding Partner, Global Infrastructure Partners, held, “Offshore wind is an important component of the transition to clean, renewable power. The investment supports our commitment to the energy transition through the continued growth of global renewable power generation.”