* Shell looking at offshore wind in UK, Germany
* Opportunities mean buying stakes in leases
* Saved on Dutch project with early collaboration
By Karolin Schaps
LONDON, Dec 13 (Reuters) - Royal Dutch Shell wantsto buy into the British and German offshore wind markets as itattempts to shift its business away from fossil fuels.
Immediate opportunities in the world's biggest offshore windmarkets will be through buying stakes in leases, rather thanbuilding new projects, Dorine Bosman, business operationsmanager for Shell's wind business, told Reuters on Tuesday.
The world's second-biggest oil major on Monday won acontract to build 700 megawatts (MW) in offshore wind capacityoff the Dutch coast together with consortium partners Eneco, VanOord and Mitsubishi/DGE.
Shell has been forced to slash billion of dollars in costsdue to weak oil and has started to ramp up investments in thegreen energy sector to build a strategy beyond fossil fuels.
"We're looking at (offshore wind) opportunities in the UKand Germany," Bosman said.
Shell, which is under growing pressure from shareholders todiversify, is studying acquisitions in the green energy sector,its chief executive told Reuters last month.
It won the latest Dutch offshore wind tender round offeringa strike price of 54.5 euro per megawatt-hour (MWh), a quarterbelow the last tender which was won by Denmark's Dong Energy in July for 72.7 euro per MWh.
Bosman said Shell and its partners were able to bring costsdown by eliminating duplications and bottlenecks early onbecause they worked together from the start.
Some of Europe's biggest offshore wind farm developers areDong Energy, Sweden's Vattenfall and German utilitiesE.ON and Innogy. (Editing by Alexander Smith)