Equinor partners with BP in US offshore wind to capture value and create platform for growth
September 10 2020 - 1:45AM
Equinor (OSE: EQNR, NYSE: EQNR) has entered into an
agreement with BP (LSE: BP, NYSE: BP) to sell 50% non-operated
interests in the Empire Wind and Beacon Wind assets on the US east
coast for a total consideration before adjustments of USD 1.1
billion. Through this transaction, the two companies are also
establishing a strategic partnership for further growth within
offshore wind in the US.
Currently Equinor holds a 100% interest in both the Empire Wind
lease, located off the coast of New York State, and the Beacon Wind
lease, located off the Massachusetts coast. The transaction is in
line with Equinor’s renewable strategy to access attractive acreage
early and at scale, mature projects, and capture value by
de-risking high equity ownership positions.
Equinor will remain the operator of the projects in these leases
through the development, construction and operations phases and it
is anticipated that the wind farms will be equally staffed after a
period of time.
“We look forward to working with BP who share our strong
ambition to grow in renewable energy. Our partnership underlines
both companies’ strong commitment to accelerate the energy
transition and combining our strengths will enable us to grow a
profitable offshore wind business together in the US,” says chief
executive officer in Equinor, Eldar Sætre.
“This transaction with BP demonstrates Equinor’s ability to
create value from developing offshore wind projects. Over the past
decade Equinor has built world-class technical expertise in
offshore wind. This has enabled us to access and high-grade wind
acreage, resulting in a material, high-quality project pipeline.
Optimising equity and bringing in new partners allow us to realise
value, increasing our financial flexibility to fund further
growth,” says executive vice president for New Energy Solutions in
Equinor, Pål Eitrheim.
Through this partnership Equinor and BP will consider future
joint opportunities in the US for both bottom-fixed and floating
offshore wind and will leverage relevant expertise to jointly grow
scale. As the partnership develops, both companies hope to expand
this cooperation further in a market that is forecast to grow to
between 600 and 800 gigawatts (GW) globally by 2050.
Equinor has already set ambitions to grow its renewables
capacity to 4 to 6 GW by 2026 and 12 to 16 GW by 2035, and has
recently announced its expectation to accelerate these ambitions.
Equinor is working to build scale in core areas – the North Sea,
the United States and the Baltic Sea – while securing growth
options in other selected markets for both bottom-fixed and
floating offshore wind.
BP’s acquisition of the interests in Empire Wind and Beacon Wind
has an effective date of 1 January 2020 and is expected to close in
early 2021, subject to customary conditions including purchase
price adjustments and authority approval.
About the assets
- Empire Wind is located 15-30 miles southeast of Long Island and
spans 80,000 acres, with water depths of between 65 and 131 feet.
The lease was acquired in 2017 and is being developed in two phases
with a potential total installed capacity of more than 2 GW.
- Beacon Wind is located 60 miles east of Montauk Point and 20
miles south of Nantucket and covers 128,000 acres. The lease was
acquired in 2019 and has the potential to be developed with a total
capacity of more than 2.4 GW.
- The turbines used at each site are each expected to have an
installed capacity of more than 10 megawatts.
- Power generation from each site will be sufficient to power
more than 1 million homes.
About the partnership
- Equinor and BP are creating a strategic partnership in offshore
wind in the US covering both current and potential future
projects.
- The partnership will leverage both companies’ expertise in
order to expand and scale the business over time.
- The transaction marks the first step in the partnership, where
Equinor will remain the operator in the development, construction
and operations phase for both assets with secondment participation
from BP.
- It is anticipated that the wind farms will be equally staffed
after a period of time.
About Equinor
Equinor is a broad energy company and is building a material
position in renewable energy. Equinor powers more than one million
European homes with renewable electricity from offshore wind farms
in the UK and Germany. The company is building material offshore
wind clusters in the North Sea, the US east coast and the Baltic
Sea. The company commissioned the world’s first floating offshore
wind farm in 2017 off the coast of Scotland and is positioned for
future floating wind options in several geographies, including the
UK, Norway and Asia.
Further information from:
Investor relations:Peter Hutton, senior vice
president, Investor Relations,+44 7881 918792 (mobile)
Press:Eskil Eriksen, Media Relations,+47 958 82
534 (mobile)
This information is subject to the disclosure requirements
pursuant to Section 5-12 the Norwegian Securities Trading Act
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