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(Adds BP comments, details)
LONDON, July 19 (Reuters) - BP and Germany's EnBW
said on Monday they had submitted a joint bid for
Scottish offshore wind acreage which could support wind projects
with 2.9 gigawatts of capacity.
Crown Estate Scotland's ScotWind wind leasing tender is its
first for a decade, and is aimed at supporting the development
of around 10 gigawatts of offshore capacity.
BP said its joint bid with EnBW represented a potential 10
billion pound ($14 billion) investment into Scottish offshore
wind projects and support infrastructure including ports,
harbours and shipyards.
The bid focused on fixed-bottom wind turbines rather than
floating turbines which other companies bid for, Dev Sanyal,
BP's head of for gas and low carbon, told Reuters.
Floating offshore wind technology is still in early stages
of deployment around the world and is significantly more
expensive than fixed-bottom technology.
Under the rules of the tender the amount of money companies
are expected to pay for the seabed lease is capped, unlike an
auction round held earlier this year for seabed leases around
the coast of England and Wales which attracted record prices.
BP said it would also invest in net zero industries,
including green hydrogen production and accelerate the expansion
of Scotland’s electric vehicle charging network.
BP and EnBW formed a 50-50 joint venture this year to
develop and operate two offshore wind leases in the Irish Sea.
They face competition in ScotWind from companies such as
Equinor, Orsted, Royal Dutch Shell, RWE, TotalEnergies and
Macquarie Group's Green Investment Group.
The results of the ScotWind leasing round are expected to be
announced early next year.
($1 = 0.7261 pounds)
(Reporting by Nina Chestney, Susanna Twidale and Ron Bousso
Editing by Jason Neely and Mark Potter)
