OVERSEAS energy giants have underlined their willingness to invest huge sums off Scotland if they are successful in the landmark ScotWind licensing round.
Portuguese-owned EDP Renewables (EDPR) has said it expects to support investment worth more than £12 billion in developing windfarms off Scotland with the right encouragement.
The company noted it has applied with Engie for ScotWind acreage on which it plans to build two windfarms that would involve total capital expenditure of £10bn.
It also raised the prospect that it could invest a further £2.2bn in the Moray West windfarm for which it already has a licence.
Chief executive Miguel Stilwell d’Andrade said the plans underlined the company’s commitment to the UK, which he described as a strategic market.
EDP recently underlined its interest in the UK by clinching a deal to buy onshore windfarms and solar energy projects in a £71m deal. The company said then: “The UK has a low-risk profile and is a sizeable power market.”
READ MORE: ScotWind auction heats up as Italian oil giant prepares to enter fray
Developers of windfarms can expect to be able to strike long term contracts for the supply of electricity and to benefit from subsidy support under the Contract for Difference programme.
EDPR plans to invest £660m in expanding the onshore business in coming years.
The company developed the Moray East windfarm with Engie.
Describing Moray East as Scotland’s largest wind farm, EDPR noted the project won CFD support. It plans to bid for CFD support For Moray West, which it expects to start constructing in 2022.
EDPR won the licence concerned in 2010.
The firm may face strong competition in the Scotwind auction, which generated strong interest around the world.
France’s TotalEnergies submitted a bid with Australian investment bank Macquarie and the Scotland-based Renewable Infrastructure Development Group.
The former Total had already shown its belief in the commercial potential of windfarms off Scotland by acquiring a stake in the giant Seagreen development off the Angus Coast from SSE.
TotalEnergies said yesterday that it plans to invest £140 million initiative in a comprehensive action plan to develop the Scottish supply chain and harbour infrastructure if it is awarded acreage in the ScotWind licensing round. The investment would fund early stage development work in connection with a big windfarm TotalEnergies and partners plan to build off Orkney.
Chief executive Patrick Pouyanné yesterday opened TotalEnergies’ new UK Offshore Wind Hub in Aberdeen. The group has a big North Sea oil and gas business.
The company said the hub will enable the transition of staff from oil and gas to offshore wind as that part of its UK business grows.
“With the energy transition gathering speed, we see Scotland as a great place to broaden our relationship by investing in offshore wind. As a global multi energy company long engaged in UK energy supply, our decision to base our UK Offshore Wind Hub here in Aberdeen is a mark of our confidence in the future of renewables in the UK and our continued commitment to Scotland and the North Sea.” said Mr Pouyanné.
ScottishPower entered the ScotWind round with Royal Dutch Shell.
READ MORE: Glasgow-based ScottishPower grows profits as pandemic impact on demand eases
The Spanish group that owns ScottishPower, Iberdrola, will today confirm it is ready to invest a further £6bn in the East Anglia windfarm hub off England at a Global Investmet Summit hosted by Boris Johnson.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel