Swedish power company Vattenfall has acquired the Thanet Offshore Wind project off Margate, Kent, which will be one of Britain’s largest offshore wind farms upon completion.
Vattenfall, which is wholly owned by the Swedish government will pay GBP 35 million (SEK 435 million) for the 300-megawatts (MW) project, according to a release.
Vattenfall acquired the rights to build Thanet Offshore Wind from CRC Energy Jersey 1 Limited in competition with other energy companies. The total investment for completing the wind farm is in the order of around GBP 780 million.
Thanet will be almost three times the size of Lillgrund, Vattenfall’s
largest wind farm in Sweden to date, and about the same size as Horns
Rev in Denmark, in which Vattenfall has a majority stake.
The acquisition of Thanet Offshore Wind will make Vattenfall one of the biggest wind power operators in Britain. Vattenfall already owns the Kentish Flats wind farm off Whitstable and earlier this autumn acquired the wind power companies AMEC Wind Energy Ltd and Eclipse Energy Plc. Great Britain is one of Vattenfall’s key markets for growth with excellent potential for clean electricity production from wind power.
The acquisition of Thanet Offshore Wind is a further step towards Vattenfall’s goal of increasing wind power production from approximately 1.5 terawatt hours (TWh) today to 50 TWh by the year 2030 and to become the fastest growing wind power developer and operator in North Europe.
ScottishPower Renewables Partnership
In a separate announcement, Vattenfall said it has entered into a partnership with ScottishPower Renewables to make joint bids in the third round of offshore wind farm development in the UK. Their common goal is to establish 6,000 MW of installed wind power capacity by 2020.
ScottishPower Renewables is part of the world’s largest wind power operator and developer, Iberdrola Renewables (IBE.MC).
The partnership will take the form of a consortium combining experience of offshore wind power and financial strength to ensure a strong renewable energy bid. Applications for the third round of tenders are to be submitted to the UK’s Crown Estate by the beginning of March.
“Combining the experience and knowledge of Vattenfall and ScottishPower Renewables will create an extremely strong and successful partnership. 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.” says Xabier Viteri, Chief Executive of Iberdrola Renewables.
About Vattenfall
Vattenfall’s vision is to be a leading European energy company.
Vattenfall’s main products are electricity and heat. Today, Vattenfall
generates electricity, produces heat and supplies energy to several
million customers in the Nordic countries and northern Europe. The
major customers are industrial plants, energy companies,
municipalities, property companies and housing associations. For
further information, please see www.vattenfall.com. The media service
section, including a picture archive and Vattenfall’s press releases,
can be found under News & Comments.
About ScottishPower Renewables
ScottishPower Renewables operates over 550 MW of wind farms across
Great Britain and Ireland and recently received consent for their first
offshore windfarm, West of Duddon Sands (500 MW).
In Related News…
Numerous obstacles stand in the way of wind power development in the United Kingdom, according to a new Reuters report. These include difficulties connecting new power to the electricity grid, as well as a scarcity of wind turbines and funding. Link to the article below.
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