SCOTTISHPOWER Renewables is to invest a further £6 billion in its offshore hub wind farms in the southern North Sea, off East Anglia.
The Scottish firm’s owner Iberdrola, of Spain, confirmed the investment, subject to securing planning consent for East Anglia One North and Two and Contracts for Difference for all three projects. The wind farms are forecast to support nearly 7000 jobs during its development, construction and operations.
Iberdrola’s chairman and CEO Ignacio Galán made the announcement during the Global Investment Summit hosted by Prime Minister Boris Johnson. Galan said it “will support the UK Government’s ambitions to drive investment in green industries to deliver jobs, growth and a cleaner and greener future”.
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He added: “We are fully committed to playing our part and our £6bn planned investment in East Anglia Hub will be a significant step towards ensuring offshore wind produces enough clean electricity to power every UK home by 2030.”
Meanwhile Portuguese firm EDP Renewables (EDPR) has announced massive investment in Scottish wind power. The world’s fourth largest renewable energy producer plans to invest £12.86bn in the UK over the coming years. This investment is additional to that already made by Ocean Winds, the joint venture owned 50/50 by EDPR and ENGIE in the Moray East and Moray West windfarm projects, amounting to £2.65bn.
EDPR said yesterday that Ocean Winds is also waiting to learn of the result of ScotWind, the offshore leasing round in Scottish waters, where it has submitted bids for up to 9GW of capacity for both fixed and floating projects. The company is targeting a minimum of 3.9GW between a fixed project and a floating one.
The investment for both projects would amount to £10bn. Moray West is currently in the supply chain contract negotiation phase and Ocean Winds has already managed to secure a preferential bidding agreement with a leading turbine supplier. Construction is scheduled to commence during 2022.
Once Moray West has been completed, the project is expected to require additional investment of £2.2bn.
Miguel Stilwell d’Andrade, chief executive of EDPR, said: “These plans to invest up to £13bn by 2030 underscore our commitment to the UK – a strategic market for the growth of the Group.
“We have an established position in the offshore market, now complemented by our entry into onshore and we will explore any further opportunities that allow us to continue to play a leading role in the UK’s energy transition.”
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