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By Susanna Twidale
LONDON, Feb 8 (Reuters) - RWE, BP and Total
are among the winners in Britain's first major auction
of offshore wind farm leases in more than a decade, the Crown
Estate said on Monday.
Britain, the world's largest offshore wind market, plans to
generate a third of its electricity from the technology by 2030
as a part of efforts to reach its 2050 net zero carbon emissions
target.
A total of six projects, representing just under 8 gigawatts
(GW) of capacity were successful, which if built could provide
enough electricity to power about 7 million homes, said the
Crown Estate, which is responsible for waters around England and
Wales.
Oil major BP won two sites representing a total of 3
GW with Germany's EnBW. It is the British oil
company's first move into Britain's offshore wind market.
BP Chief Executive Bernard Looney said in a statement the
move marked "important progress towards BP's transformation into
an integrated energy company."
BP aims to ramp up renewable power generation to 50 GW by
2030 from 3.3 GW now, while slashing oil output.
RWE, Germany's largest power producer, was
confirmed as preferred bidder for two sites with total potential
capacity of 3 GW.
"As RWE we are determined to contribute to delivering the
UK's ambition to grow offshore wind capacity to 40 GW by 2030,"
said Anja-Isabel Dotzenrath, chief executive of RWE's renewables
division.
A venture of French oil major Total and Macquarie’s Green
Investment Group secured the rights to a 1.5 GW project off
Britain's East Anglian coast.
Offshore Wind Limited, a venture of Cobra Instalaciones y
Servicios and Flotation Energy, secured a 480 MW site.
Crown Estate Scotland carries out separate auctions for the
waters around the Scottish coast.
(Reporting by Susanna Twidale in London, additional reporting
by Christoph Steitz in Frankfurt ; Editing by Edmund Blair)
