Vattenfall joins forces with ScottishPower as it buys Britain’s largest offshore wind farm
Greenwise Staff
11th November 2008
Swedish energy giant Vattenfall is cementing its position in the UK wind market, joining forces with ScottishPower Renewables to bid on offshore wind farm development in the UK. At the same time, the state-owned company has acquired the Thanet Offshore Wind project for the sum of £35 million.
Vattenfall, the world’s second largest operator of offshore wind, and ScottishPower Renewables, owned by the world’s largest wind power operator and developer, Iberdrola Renewables, said their partnership would take the form of a consortium and would provide them with the financial clout and expertise to achieve their common goal of installing 6,000 MW of wind power capacity by 2020 – enough to power four million homes.
“For us, the partnership offers a better opportunity to achieve our goal of increasing the amount of wind power we produce to a total of 50 TWh by 2030,” said Lars G Josefsson, chief executive officer of Vattenfall AB.
“Combining the experience and knowledge of Vattenfall and ScottishPower Renewables will create a extremely strong and successful partnership,” added Xabier Viteri, chief executive of Iberdrola Renewables. “Round 3 is a very important part of the UK’s renewable aspirations and this consortium has the skills and determination to play a key role in this process.”
Vattenfall’s acquisition of Thanet Offshore Wind project off Margate, Kent, meanwhile, gives it ownership of a wind farm, which on completion will have an installed capacity of some 300 MW. This will be almost three times the size of Lillgrund, currently Vattenfall’s largest wind farm in Sweden.
The acquisition from CRC Energy Jersey 1 Limited , which will require an investment of around £780 million in total, will also make Vattenfall one of the largest wind power operators in Britain, now the world leader in offshore wind.
Vattenfall already owns the Kentish Flats wind farm off Whitstable. Last month, it bought AMEC, which has one of the largest wind development portfolios in Britain, and Eclipse Energy, a British-based energy company that is currently developing six wind projects in the UK.
“Great Britain is ideal for wind power with good wind conditions and a long coastline. We are now looking forward to realising the project and have a wind farm in place by 2010,” commented Anders Dahl, head of Vattenfall’s wind power division.
Applications for the third round of tenders for UK offshore wind farm development are to be submitted to the UK’s Crown Estate by the beginning of March.