BP completes entry into offshore wind

BP and Equinor have completed the formation of their strategic US offshore wind partnership. This includes BP’s $1.1bn purchase from Equinor of a 50% interest in two major lease areas off the US East Coast. The new partnership will develop up to 4.4 GW through two projects – Empire Wind and Beacon Wind – and together pursue further growth in the US offshore wind market.

The completion of the partnership follows the recent success of the Empire Wind 2 and Beacon Wind 1 projects in being selected to provide New York State with 2.5 GW of power. This is the biggest US offshore wind award to date. Together with the existing award to supply 816 MW from the Empire Wind 1 development, this represents a total commitment to provide 3.3 GW of renewable offshore wind energy to the State of New York.

The partnership forms an important part of BP delivering its strategy to become an integrated energy company. Under these plans, the company is aiming to grow its net renewable generating capacity from 2.5 GW in 2019 to 20 GW by 2025 and to around 50 GW by 2030. It is also aiming to increase annual low carbon investment 10-fold by 2030, to around $5bn/y.