Italian oil and gas major Eni has completed the aquisition of a 20 per cent stake in the 1.2 GW Dogger Bank C offshore wind farm in the UK.
Eni bought the stakes from Equinor (ten per cent) and SSE Renewables (ten per cent).
Eni is already a partner with SSE Renewables and Equinor on the first two phases of Dogger Bank Wind Farm. A consistent combination of equity partners across all three phases of the project will enable further synergies across both the construction and operations phase of the Dogger Bank wind farm, commented SSE Renewables.
Following the transaction, the new overall shareholding in the 3.6 GW Dogger Bank (A,B, and C) is Equinor (40 per cent), SSE Renewables (40 per cent), and Eni (20 per cent).
Eni entered the Dogger Bank C alongside SSE Renewables and Equinor with effect from project financial close, which was reached on 1 December 2021. The combined total equity consideration received at closing was GBP 136 million (EUR 163.9 million).
Total investment in Dogger Bank Wind Farm will be around GBP 9 billion (EUR 10.57 billion), of which around GBP 3 billion is for phase C including offshore transmission capex in the range of between GBP 900 million and GBP 1 billion.
Taken in aggregate with the financing last year of the A and B phases of the Dogger Bank project, reaching financial close on all three phases of Dogger Bank Wind Farm is the largest offshore wind project financing to date globally.
The third phase of the project is being developed on a different timescale to the first two phases, Dogger Bank A and B, which are being constructed at the same time.
Offshore export cable installation will start in the first quarter of 2024, and the installation of the offshore platform in the second quarter of 2024.
The installation of the foundations will begin in the third quarter of 2024, followed by the installation of the 14 MW Haliade-X turbines in the second quarter of 2025.
Once the three phases are complete, which is expected by March 2026, Dogger Bank will be the largest offshore wind farm in the world. In total it will generate around 18 TWh, enough renewable electricity to supply five per cent of the UK’s demand, equivalent to powering six million UK homes.
SSE Renewables is leading on the development and construction of Dogger Bank Wind Farm, and Equinor will operate the wind farm on completion for its expected operational life of around 35 years.