BP enters Germany’s and continental Europe’s offshore wind industry after it has been awarded the rights to develop two offshore wind projects in the German tender round.
Germany is a core market for bp and the energy major has extensive low carbon hydrogen plans in the country.
The two North Sea sites, located 130km and 150km offshore in water depths of about 40m, have a total potential generating capacity of 4GW.
If BP gets all the permits and approvals these sites would be BP’s first offshore wind projects in Germany.
UK´s energy giant BP will lead the development, construction and operations of these fixed-bottom offshore wind projects, with grid connection targeted by end of 2030. It’s worth noting that BP’s global offshore wind pipeline now totals up to 9.2GW net to bp.
Anja-Isabel Dotzenrath, BP’s executive vice president, gas and & low carbon energy, said: “These awards are a huge milestone for bp’s decarbonization plans in Germany and are a strong reflection of our wider strategy.”
Initial payments totalling €678m, equivalent to 10% of the bid amount, will be paid by July 2024. The remaining 90% will be paid over a 20-year period when the projects become operational in the next decade.
BP and its predecessor companies have been operating in Germany for nearly 120 years and today it employs about 4,000 people in the country.
BP operates two refineries in the country and Aral – Germany’s leading retail network with c 2,300 sites. It’s also a leading provider for EV fast-charging, providing 1,500 charging points in country.
The recent tender supports Germany’s target of having 30GW of offshore wind projects installed by 2030, at least 40GW by 2035 and at least 70GW by 2045.
In its project portfolio BP has an offshore wind pipeline with a potential generating capacity, with its joint venture partners, of up to 5.2GW net to bp, with projects under development off the US east coast and in the UK in the Irish and North Seas.
It has also formed a partnership in Japan with Marubeni and earlier this year acquired a majority stake in a project portfolio of four potential projects in South Korea.
