BARD Offshore 1 Wind Farm
A file photograph of the BARD Offshore 1 wind farm, located 100 kms north-west of the German island of Borkum. Reuters

German utility EnBW has sold a 49.89% stake in an offshore wind park to Australian energy infrastructure investor Macquarie Capital for €720m ($854m, £564m).

EnBW in a 7 January statement said that it will remain in charge of the wind park's -- EnBW Baltic 2 -- operation and maintenance.

EnBW Baltic 2 is being constructed 32 kilometres north of the Baltic island of Rügen and erection of the turbines is underway, according to the German utility.

Around 34 wind turbines have already been installed and it is anticipated that the first turbines will begin feeding electricity into the grid in the coming weeks.

The complete commissioning of EnBW Baltic 2 is scheduled for spring 2015 with 80 wind turbines and a total capacity of 288 megawatts.

The offshore wind farm can generate 1,200 gigawatt hours of electricity per year and could theoretically power 340,000 households and save 900,000 tonnes of CO2.

EnBW said in the statement that "...the shares...will be transferred to Macquarie Capital after antitrust approval and the full commissioning of the offshore wind farm that is expected next summer..."

EnBW chief financial officer Thomas Kusterer said in the statement: "This means that we have now successfully implemented our second participation model in the area of offshore wind energy.

"EnBW utilises participation models to generate additional financial scope for pushing forward the development of other growth projects," Kusterer added.

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