Vattenfall has confirmed that a “number” of firms are lining up bids for its stake in controversial plans to build a windfarm in Aberdeen Bay.
The company, which is owned by the Swedish government, was granted planning permission for the European Offshore Wind Deployment Centre (EOWDC) in March.
The scheme, Vattenfall’s joint venture with engineering firm Technip and Aberdeen Renewable Energy Group, involves erecting 11 turbines less than two miles from Aberdeen.
But Vattenfall put its 75% stake in the test centre up for sale earlier this year after a slump in its profits.
A spokeswoman for the project has refused to comment on who is interested in buying in, but confirmed that several firms had registered an interest. “Owing to non-disclosure agreements with a number of interested parties, we are unable to comment further at this stage on the project partners’ call for new investors to back the strategically important EOWDC,” she said.
The sell-off follows a troubled year for Vattenfall. In April, it announced plans to axe projects and 2,500 jobs.
The company has to make cuts of £450million over the next two years.
Thousands of jobs will go by the end of 2014.
Vattenfall chief executive Oystein Loseth said the company needed to prepare itself for falling electricity demand.
“This new reality requires efforts in further improving our efficiency,” he said.
He added that Vattenfall had to adapt through divestments, decreased investment plans, staff cuts and asset sales.
Weeks later, its stake in the EOWDC was put on the market.
US businessman Donald Trump has also launched legal action to try to block the EOWDC, which he says would undermine his golf resort at the Menie Estate, near Balmedie.
The Trump Organisation’s petition for a judicial review is due to call at the Court of Session in Edinburgh for a fixed four-day hearing on November 12. The project could also be hindered by a landmark legal ruling last week, which said that firms need an electricity generating licence to build windfarms. Vattenfall does not currently hold such a licence.