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* Wpd has 19.85 gigawatt renewable project pipeline
* Cites decades of experience
* Wpd is active in 25 countries, including Taiwan
By Christoph Steitz
FRANKFURT, Oct 7 (Reuters) - Wpd, which owns Germany's
second-largest pipeline of renewable energy projects, says its
manageable scale and decades of experience make it well-placed
to fend off looming competition from oil majors entering the
sector.
Facing pressure from shareholders worried about the climate
impact of fossil fuel and from a fall in oil and gas markets
linked to the COVID-19 pandemic, oil majors, including BP
and Shell, are seeking to accelerate a portfolio shift
towards greener fuel.
Hartmut Broesamle, wpd's chief operating officer, said that
is easier said than done.
"Onshore wind is a small-scale and labour-intensive
business. You can't do that out of a large corporate
headquarters," he told Reuters.
"You need people on the ground who believe in the cause or
experts with a lot of experience in the area of wildlife
conservation," he said, adding it took decades to build these
teams.
Founded in 1996, wpd has grown its pipeline of onshore,
offshore and solar projects to 19.85 gigawatts, making it
Germany's second-biggest after that of RWE.
The group, which is co-owned by its two founders, is active
in 25 countries, with France, Germany, Sweden and Taiwan among
the largest markets.
"The oil majors' market entry is driving the sector. I'm
happy about every additional euro that flows into renewables and
not into developing new oil fields," Broesamle said.
But in financial terms, interest from the sector has not
grown materially, he said, adding it was the established players
- pension funds, insurers, municipal utilities and mid-sized
energy firms - looking to invest more.
Wpd runs and owns most of its projects, with the exception
of offshore wind, where co-investors are needed for expenditure
of usually more than 1 billion euros ($1.18 billion) per farm.
Wpd, which financial sources say is worth 4-5 billion euros,
is selling assets in Canada, Finland and Sweden to fund growth,
Broesamle said, adding the U.S. offshore market was not
attractive due to very high prices for wind territory.
($1 = 0.8496 euros)
(Editing by Barbara Lewis)
