BP Share News (BP.)

* Auction was "highly contested race" - Bernstein
* RWE says price it was awarded was lowest in auction
* BP teams up with Germany's EnBW

(Adds price, context, analyst comment)
By Susanna Twidale
LONDON, Feb 8 (Reuters) - RWE, BP and Total
were among 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 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. If built, they 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, in its first move into Britain's offshore wind
market, won two sites representing a total of 3 GW jointly with
German regional utility EnBW, in what Bernstein
analysts called a "highly contested race".
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 and Europe's
third-largest renewables firm after Iberdrola and Enel
, was confirmed as preferred bidder for two sites with
total potential capacity of 3 GW.
The average price RWE was awarded to lease seabed was 82,552
pounds ($113,171) per megawatt (MW) per year, the lowest awarded
price during the auction, the company said.
"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, who heads 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.
Below is a table of the winning bids
Proposed Successful bidder Option Fee Option Fee
Project deposit Bid/£/MW/a
Capacity (£/excl VAT) nnum)
(MW)
1,500 RWE Renewables 114,304,500 76,203
1,500 RWE Renewables 133,350,000 88,900
1,500 Green Investment Group 124,573,500 83,049
1,500 Consortium of EnBW and 231,000,000 154,000
BP
480 Offshore Wind Limited 44,751,840 93,233
1,500 Consortium of EnBW BP 231,000,000 154,000
($1 = 0.7294 pounds)


(Reporting by Susanna Twidale in London, additional reporting
by Christoph Steitz in Frankfurt ; Editing by Edmund Blair and
Susan Fenton)