Blackstone in wind farm play

US investment fund Blackstone plans to invest more than 1 billion (£802 million) in German offshore wind farms.

Germany wants to develop offshore facilities because it is approaching the limits of potential on-land development and has no meaningful natural energy sources.

The government plans to develop 30 sites with a capacity of 25,000 megawatts in the Baltic and North seas by 2030, and recently raised subsidies for wind-energy sources. Blackstone is said to be interested in taking stakes in the Meerwind park planned near the Heligoland islands in the North Sea.

"Blackstone's decision will certainly pull other investors in its wake," said Ralf Bischof, director of the German Wind Energy Federation.

There have been costly legal actions in Germany over ownership of the wind. About £500 million a year is spent there on legal actions in which established windfarms sue nearby newer ones, claiming they are "stealing" wind that belongs to them.