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* Dogger Bank to be world's largest offshore wind farm
* SSE, Equinor selling 10% each for 405 mln pounds total
* Oil firms invest in renewables to lower carbon footprint
* Equinor says sale validates early entry strategy
(Recasts, adds detail and SSE, Equinor profit from sale)
By Nerijus Adomaitis and Stephen Jewkes
OSLO/MILAN, Dec 4 (Reuters) - Italy's Eni is buying
a 20% stake in the Dogger Bank Wind Farm project from Norway's
Equinor and Britain's SSE as it seeks to gain
expertise in the sector and cut its greenhouse gas emissions
80% by 2050.
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. [nL8N2IC1E1
Eni's investment in the development was for a combined 405
million pounds ($545 million), the companies said on Friday.
"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 chief executive Claudio Descalzi said.
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. It plans to
have more than 55 gigawatts of renewable capacity by 2050, up
from less than 1 GW in 2019.
Eni has already formed a joint venture with Norway's
HitecVision to take part in an offshore wind power tender in
Norway next year.
SSE and Equinor said they would each realise 200 million
pounds from the Dogger Bank sale, which is expected to be
completed in early 2021 subject to regulatory and lender
approvals, while still holding a combined 80% stake.
"Once again, we have demonstrated Equinor's ability to
create value from renewables projects," Paal Eitrheim, the
company's head of New Energy Solutions, said.
Equinor also sold a 50% stake in two U.S. wind farms to BP
in September, booking a $1 billion profit.
The deal with Eni covers the first two parts of the Dogger
Bank development, which were given the go-ahead last week and
will add a combined 2.4 gigawatt of capacity, with completion
scheduled in 2023 and 2024 respectively.
Equinor and SSE retain 50% stakes in phase C, which is still
in the planning stages and 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 six million homes.
Britain is already the world's largest offshore wind market
and is aiming for 40 GW of capacity by 2030, up from 10 GW now.
($1 = 0.7428 pounds)
(Reporting by Nerijus Adomaitis in Oslo, Susanna Twidale in
London and Stephen Jewkes in Milan; Writing by Terje Solsvik;
Editing by Susan Fenton, Elaine Hardcastle and Alexander Smith)
