The offshore wind industry is growing at a fast pace. How can investors get a piece of the action?

The offshore wind industry has seen tremendous improvements in 2017. The UK is the world’s biggest producer of offshore wind energy, although sadly it its not a world leader in the development of the technology used on these shores.

For those investors looking to gain exposure to offshore wind assets, there are a number of options worth exploring.

Orsted (formerly known as Dong Energy)

The Danish wind power giant changed its name this October after selling off its oil and gas business to British chemicals heavyweight Ineos.

Orsted this year won a contract to build the Hornsea Project Two offshore wind farm at a price of £57.5 per megawatt hour, in a project with capacity of up to 1,386 megawatts. This is in addition to Ortsted’s other offshore farms in the UK. This year it opened the Burbo Bank extension in north west England.

The UK is the company’s largest market, with other major farms including the plans for the offshore facility at the Race Bank off the coast of Norfolk.

It began life as a state-owned company focused on managing Denmark’s assets in the oil and gas sector in the North Sea. The company eventually moved into the offshore wind sector and in 2016 listed on the Copenhagen Stock Exchange.

Currently valued at 157 billion Danish Krone (£19bn) the company is the obvious choice for investors looking for a way to benefit from the offshore wind story, with Orsted handling the construction, operation and maintenance of the offshore wind farms.

Vestas

Vestas is another Danish giant. A manufacturer, servicer and installer of wind turbines, it was founded in 1945 as a manufacturer of household appliances before entering the wind turbine sector in 1979.

In 2003 the group undertook a merger with now defunct Danish wind turbine manufacturer NEG Micon to become the largest wind turbine maker on earth.

Vestas, like Orsted is listed on the Cophenhagen Stock Exchange where it has a market cap of 119.25 Danish Krone (£14bn), and pays out a dividend yield of 1.75%.

For investors looking for exposure to multiple wind energy stocks, Vestas is another essential part of the puzzle.

Note: Neither the author nor any of the members of the Renewables Investor staff have received any payments from the aforementioned companies or associated companies. The above does not constitute financial advice and those seeking out financial advice should seek out the services of an Independent Financial Adviser.