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RWE Innogy agrees 50:50 partnership with Statkraft for the Triton Knoll offshore wind farm
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The partnership is great news for Triton Knoll and the UK offshore wind industry,
with the potential for a £3-£4bn investment and up to 1,900 UK jobs
RWE Innogy and Statkraft have signed an agreement to jointly develop the Triton Knoll Offshore Wind Farm, off the east coast of England. The deal will see Statkraft take a 50% stake in the UK wind farm, which has an expected capacity of up to 900MW. The development and construction phases will be delivered by a joint RWE/Statkraft project team, managed by Statkraft and, drawing upon the competencies of both companies. Under the terms of the agreement, no financial details will be disclosed.
RWE Innogy and Statkraft are global leaders in renewable energy, long term investors in the UK renewables sector and together have interest in more than 6,500MW (pro rata) of offshore wind assets (1). The combined experience and expertise of both companies will create a formidable team within the offshore wind industry, and in the development of Triton Knoll.
Welcoming the new partnership, the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, Ed Davey said: “This is another vote of confidence in the world's number one offshore wind market which is continuing to attract investors from all over the world, creating thousands of green jobs in the process. We have created the right conditions in the UK for the offshore wind industry to flourish and have attracted around £7 billion worth of offshore wind investment since 2010.”
Jon Brandsar, Executive Vice President, Statkraft, commented: “This is an important step for Statkraft in delivering on our strategy for offshore wind. Strong partnerships between experienced offshore wind players are crucial for a successful industry. This transaction establishes RWE and Statkraft as strong, long-term and complementary partners in delivering offshore wind in the UK”.
Hans Bunting, CEO of RWE Innogy GmbH said: “Securing partners for projects such as Triton Knoll has been a key objective in our renewables strategy, and this latest successful partnership with Statkraft highlights the attractiveness of our developments and RWE’s continued commitment to offshore wind. Statkraft is a very experienced and reliable partner and we are delighted to be working with them to successfully realise the Triton Knoll offshore wind farm together”.
Triton Knoll offshore wind farm
Olav Hetland, Statkraft’s Head of Offshore Wind, commented: “The project itself is blessed with ideal characteristics for an offshore wind farm, including shallow waters, strong wind resource, and excellent ground conditions. In addition, it is in an area of seabed which Statkraft knows very well from its Sheringham Shoal and Dudgeon offshore wind projects.”
RWE Innogy’s Head of Offshore Wind Projects, Richard Sandford, added: “This partnership is excellent news for the future of Triton Knoll. It underlines our commitment to this project and our intention to deliver the investment and job opportunities which should flow from the construction and operation of the wind farm. This partnership will not alter our existing commitments or previous arrangements around development of the site and we look forward to continuing our close working relationships with all local partners and stakeholders.”
Richard Sandford, RWE Innogy and Bjorn Drangsholt, Statkraft UK
Triton Knoll received a Development Consent Order (DCO) for the offshore array from the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change in July 2013 and an application for a DCO for the Electrical System is currently being prepared for submission to the Planning Inspectorate later in the spring this year. Once the project is constructed, it could provide enough electricity to meet the energy needs of up to 800,000 average UK households annually (2).
Economic benefits have already begun to flow from the project with over £20million already invested in the UK during the development process. The economic benefits from the construction and operation of the project will be significantly more, creating around 1,900 UK jobs during construction from a total potential investment of around £3 - £4bn. Financial close for the project is anticipated to take place in 2017, with onshore construction also expected to commence in the same year.
Footnotes
(1) Figure relates to construction, operation and development
(2) Energy predicted to be generated by the proposal is derived using long term wind speeds calculated by meteorological models seeded with historical weather data obtained from satellite, surface-based and airborne measurement systems. The energy capture predicted and hence derived homes equivalent or emissions savings figures may change as further data are gathered. Equivalent homes supplied is based on an annual electricity consumption per home of 4500 kWh. This figure is supported by recent domestic electricity consumption data available from The Digest of UK Energy Statistics and household estimates and projections from the UK Statistics Authority.
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