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Equinor and BP partner for US offshore wind

By: Tom Russell 10/09/2020 Equinor

General Windfarms

Equinor has entered into an agreement with 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 offshore wind growth 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.

BP’s acquisition of 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.

"This is an important early step in the delivery of our new strategy and our pivot to truly becoming an integrated energy company. Offshore wind is growing at around 20% a year globally and is recognized as being a core part of meeting the world’s need to limit emissions. Equinor is a recognized sector leader and this partnership builds on a long history between our two companies. It will play a vital role in allowing us to deliver our aim of rapidly scaling up our renewable energy capacity, and in doing so help deliver the energy the world wants and needs," said Bernard Looney, BP group chief executive.

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.

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.

All turbines used at each site are each expected to exceed 10 megawatts. Power generation from each site will be sufficient to power more than 1 million homes.

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Equinor and BP partner for US offshore wind

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