BP and Equinor have completed the formation of their strategic partnership for offshore wind projects in the US. This includes BP’s $1.1 billion purchase from Equinor of a 50 per cent stake in two major lease areas off the US East Coast. The new partnership will develop up to two projects with a cumulative capacity of 4.4 GW. These projects are: Empire Wind and Beacon Wind. In addition both companies will pursue further growth opportunities in the US offshore wind market.
The Empire Wind lease area, awarded to Equinor in 2016, is 15-30 miles southeast of Long Island and has a total area of 80,000 acres. Its two phases of development have a potential generation capacity of 2GW. The Beacon Wind lease area covers a total area of 128,000 acres, approximately 20 miles south of Nantucket and 60 miles east of Montauk Point. When fully developed its two phases are expected to have a total generating capacity of 2.4 GW.
This development is in line with BP’s aims to grow its net renewable generating capacity from 2.5 GW in 2019 to 20 GW by 2025 and to around 50 GW by 2030. It also aims to increase annual low carbon investment 10-fold by 2030 to around $5 billion a year.
“We see significant opportunities by rapidly growing BP’s offshore wind business, making a major contribution to our strategic goals and developing assets that will provide long-term, stable returns,” said Dev Sanyal, executive vice president, gas and low carbon energy.
