Abu Dhabi: Masdar announced its partnership with Norway’s Statoil and Statkraft in a 402MW offshore wind farm project, off the Norfolk coast in Eastern England, the company said in a statement.
Masdar acquired a 35 per cent stake in the project from Statoil. This leaves Statoil retaining a 35 per cent stake and remaining operator of the project, with the remaining 30 per cent owned by Statkraft.
In January, Siemens was awarded two contracts, valued at £516 million (Dhs3.1 billion) for the engineering, supply, assembly, commissioning and service of Dudgeon’s 67 wind turbine generators, the company said.
“As the only Opec nation supplying both traditional and renewable energy to international markets, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) is committed to accelerating the use of wind energy as an effective means of balancing the global energy mix as we move toward a sustainable, low carbon future,” said Dr Sultan Al Jaber, chairman of Masdar, Abu Dhabi’s renewable energy company.
The investment was announced on the sidelines of the United Nations’ Climate Change Summit taking place in New York, in the presence of Dr Sultan Al Jaber, Helge Lund, CEO of Statoil, Christian Rynning-Tonnesen, CEO of Statkraft, and Ed Davey, UK Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change.
Masdar’s stake in Dudgeon is the company’s second major investment in the UK offshore wind energy market. The company also has a 20 per cent stake in the 630 megawatt London Array project, the world’s largest offshore wind farm.
“Combined with London Array, Dudgeon puts Masdar at the forefront of offshore wind development in the UK,” said Dr Al Jaber. “It will significantly contribute to the expansion of the UK’s renewable energy capacity. It also reinforces the UAE and the UK’s shared commitment to drive the growth of the renewable energy sector.”
When completed, Dudgeon will provide clean, reliable energy to approximately 410,000 households in the UK. Offshore construction is scheduled to start in 2016 and the project is expected to be fully operational in late 2017.
Helge Lund, CEO of Statoil said: “The Dudgeon Project represents an important part of Statoil’s renewable energy strategy, and it will generate value to the owners, the offshore wind industry and the UK community. Statoil brings extensive offshore competence, while Statkraft brings expertise from the power generation industry. Masdar’s experience and ambitions within renewable energy will add to the quality in this project.”
Energy and Climate Change Secretary Ed Davey said: “Masdar’s investment is a strong endorsement of the UK as the best place in the world to invest in offshore wind — and it shows the Government’s plan for green growth is working. Since 2010 we have seen, on average, £7 billion a year invested in renewables and we expect to see up to £50 billion more between now and 2020.”
Dudgeon adds to Masdar’s broad portfolio of existing clean energy projects. This includes one of the world’s largest CSP plants — the 100MW Shams 1 in the UAE — and the 117MW Tafila wind farm in Jordan, alongside numerous other projects. Collectively, they illustrate how the UAE is leading the Middle East’s response in accelerating the deployment and adoption of clean energy around the world.
