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OSLO, Dec 4 (Reuters) - Italy's Eni will buy a 20%
stake in the Dogger Bank Wind Farm development from Norway's
Equinor and Britain's SSE for a combined 405
million pounds ($545 million), the companies said on Friday.
The project off the northeast coast of England is expected
to become the world's largest offshore wind farm, helping the
companies achieve their climate targets.
Following the deal, SSE and Equinor will each hold 40%
while Eni will own the remaining 20%.
"For Eni, entering the offshore wind market in Northern
Europe is a great opportunity to gain further skills in the
sector thanks to the collaboration with two of the industry’s
leading companies," Eni CEO Claudio Descalzi said in a
statement.
The deal covers the first two parts of the Dogger Bank
development, known as A and B, which were given the go-ahead for
construction last week, while Equinor and SSE each retain 50%
stakes in phase C, which is still in the planning stages.
Parts A and B will add a combined 2.4 gigawatt of capacity,
with the two phases scheduled for completion in 2023 and 2024
respectively.
Phase C could add a further 1.2 gigawatt in 2026, at which
time Dogger Bank would produce enough electricity to supply 5%
of British demand, equivalent to powering six million homes each
year, the companies have said.
Britain is already the largest offshore wind market in the
world and is aiming for 40 GW of capacity by 2030, up from 10 GW
now.
Along with many other oil majors Eni plans to massively
increase its renewable power generation to reduce its reliance
on fossil fuels and meet internal climate targets.
To do that it will have less oil and more gas on its books
while building a clean energy portfolio that includes
renewables, biorefineries and carbon capture projects.
Eni is aiming to cut its greenhouse gas emissions by 80% by
2050 in absolute terms and plans to have more than 55 gigawatts
of renewable capacity by 2050, up from less than 1 GW in 2019.
Equinor in September announced the sale of a 50% stake in
two U.S. wind farm projects to BP, booking a $1 billion
profit.
($1 = 0.7428 pounds)
(Reporting by Terje Solsvik and Nerijus Adomaitis in Oslo,
Susanna Twidale in London and Stephen Jewkes in Milan; Editing
by Susan Fenton and Elaine Hardcastle)
