Italy's Eni to Buy Stake in World's Largest Offshore Wind Project
The Italian oil giant Eni has reached an agreement to acquire a 20% stake in the 2.4 GW Dogger Bank A and B wind farms in the UK from SSE and Equinor which currently own a 50% each.
Equinor said it would sell a 10% equity interest for a total consideration of around GBP 202.5 million ($272,4 million). Eni will buy a further 10% interest from SSE on the same terms.
Eni has also entered into an agreement to purchase a 10% interest in Dogger Bank A and B from project partner SSE on the same terms.
Once the transaction is complete, the new overall shareholding in Dogger Bank A (1.2 GW) and Dogger Bank B (1.2 GW) will be – SSE (40%), Equinor (40%) and Eni (20%).
"By entering the Dogger Bank (A and B) project, Eni adds 480 MW of renewable energy to its 2025 target of 5GW of installed capacity from renewable sources, while it will additionally be able to explore potential synergies with the retail business," Eni said.
The first two phases of Dogger Bank last month reached a financial close. Dogger Bank C phase is being developed on a different timescale with financial close to follow at a later stage. There is no change to the ownership of the third phase, Dogger Bank C (1.2 GW), in which Equinor and SSE each have a 50% stake.
The Dogger Bank A and B projects involve the installation of 190 offshore wind turbines situated approximately 80 miles from the British coast. Each turbine, of GE Renewable Energy's giant Haliade-X type, will have a capacity of 13 MW for a total capacity of 2.4 GW.
At full capacity, Dogger Bank (3.6 GW) will be the world’s largest project of its kind, generating around 5% of UK demand for renewable electricity and supplying energy to approximately 6 million British families.
Claudio Descalzi, Chief Executive Officer of Eni, has stated: “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, and to make a substantial contribution to the 2025 target of 5 GW of installed capacity from renewables, an intermediate step towards the more ambitious target of zero net direct and indirect greenhouse gas emissions in Europe by 2050.”
