Italian oil and gas company Eni is increasing its renewables investments and has now acquired a 20% stake in the 1.2GW Dogger Bank C offshore wind project in the UK, by acquiring a 10% stake from each Equinor and SSE.
With the acquisition, Eni has now become Equinor's and SSE's partner in all three phases of the world's largest offshore wind project, having earlier this year acquired a 20% stake in Phases A and B, respectively.
Electricity production from 3.6GW project will start in subsequent phases with the first phase (DBA) starting 2023 and the following respectively in 2024 and 2025. Once completed, Dogger Bank will generate around 18 TWh, enough renewable electricity to supply 5% of the UK’s total demand, equivalent to powering six million UK homes.
Financial close of project financing for the site is expected before the end of 2021. The closing of the transaction is expected in 1Q 2022, subject to customary closing conditions, Eni said. Eni did not say who much it would pay for the 20% in Phase C. Equinor however said it "continues to capture value from the world class offshore wind asset obtaining an equity consideration of around GBP 70 million." In U.S. dollars, this is around $95,4 million for Equinor's 10%.
Once the transaction is complete, the new shareholding structure will be comprised of SSE Renewables (40%), Equinor (40%) and Eni (20%) for all the three Dogger Bank project phases (A, B, and C).
Claudio Descalzi, Chief Executive Officer of Eni, said: “Through this important transaction we continue to accelerate our growth strategy in renewable energy, as well as strengthening our presence in the offshore wind market in Northern Europe, one of the most promising and stable markets in the world.
"This is new capacity further enhances and expands Eni’s portfolio that integrates renewables and retail, a fundamental strategic lever for the decarbonization of emissions related to the use of our products by our customers. It is, therefore, a new concrete step in our process of complete reduction of the net emissions of industrial processes and products.”
Eni said that, by entering the Dogger Bank C project, it added 240 MW of renewable capacity to reach its 2025 target to develop more than 6 GW of installed capacity from renewable sources, while growing its level of involvement and expertise for the future development of further offshore wind projects.