Norwegian energy company Statoil said it swapped out some of its assets in order to share control over wind farms located off the British coast.
Statoil signed a swap agreement with British energy company SSE and German energy company Innogy for interests in the Dogger Bank wind park. Innogy under the arrangement takes a 100 percent stake in the developments Teesside wind farms at Dogger Bank, while Statoil and SSE will share control over the Creyke wind farms.
"Dogger Bank represents a unique opportunity for the U.K. to develop secure, sustainable and cost-competitive energy from its world-class wind resource and the asset constitutes a very important element in Statoil's strategy to gradually complement our oil and gas portfolio with profitable renewable energy solutions," Irene Rummelhoff, Statoil's executive vice president for new energy solutions, said in a statement.
The company in a regular review of the energy sector outlined a goal to steer up to 20 percent of its annual investments toward renewable energy by 2030 with the aim of developing a low-carbon footprint while staying competitive in the market.
Dogger Bank is the largest development of its kind in the world, with its target installed capacity of 4.8 gigawatts enough to meet the potential demand of 5 million average British households. The company last year signed a letter of intent with state-owned renewable energy company Statkraft to take over as the operator of the Sheringham Shoal wind farm off the British coast.
Statoil reported adjusted earnings for the second quarter of $3 billion, up from the $913 million reported in the same period last year. The company attributed the gains to strong operational performance, improved production and higher prices for oil and natural gas.
SSE and Innogy had no public statement on the swap agreement.
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Wind energy pricing for land-based, utility-scale projects remains attractive to utility and commercial purchasers, according to an annual report released by the U.S. Department of Energy and prepared by the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab). Prices offered by newly built wind projects in the United States are averaging around 2 cents /kWh, driven lower by technology advanceme … read more
