Italian oil giant Eni is working to boost its renewable energy portfolio further after it last year entered the Dogger Bank, the world's largest offshore wind project, on its path towards delivering 60 GW of renewables installed capacity by 2050.
Namely, the company Monday said it would partner with the Scottish offshore wind developer Red Rock Power to make a joint bid with the support of transmission company, Transmission Investment in the upcoming ScotWind offshore leasing round.
ScotWind is the first round of seabed leasing for offshore wind farms in Scottish waters for a decade. The primary purpose of ScotWind Leasing is to grant property rights for seabed in Scottish waters for new commercial-scale offshore wind project development.
"The companies will also consider future renewable opportunities in Scotland and combine their wind farm development and offshore expertise, harnessing a common desire to support the net-zero transition," Eni said Monday.
Eni said that the partnership’s future offshore wind projects in particular would prioritize maximizing opportunities for local supply chain growth, the development, and deployment of new technologies, and contributing to the decarbonization of the North Sea and the transfer of skills this will generate.
Red Rock, based in Edinburgh, Scotland is a UK subsidiary of SDIC Power Holdings Co. Ltd, based in Beijing.
The company currently owns a 25 percent stake of the operational Beatrice Offshore Wind Farm and 50 percent of the Inch Cape Offshore Wind Farm development, as well as three onshore wind farms projects – Afton, Benbrack (both 100%) and Överturingen (50%).
Guy Madgwick, Red Rock Power CEO, said: “Securing a partner to enable us to capitalize on our existing offshore wind development expertise and levelling up our offshore construction experience ahead of the ScotWind bid was a key priority for us this year.
"Eni brings a wealth of offshore expertise from the oil and gas sector that offers significant value in potential projects moving forward. Our priority right now is formulating a competitive proposition that would allow us to expand while maximizing opportunities for Scotland’s wind sector and supply chain. We recognize the vast potential in collaborating with an energy company like Eni to deliver net-zero targets in the North Sea and see this as an opportunity to further champion the transition of its skilled workforce into renewables. I come from an oil and gas background, as do many of our team, and we recognize that there are significant learnings and transferable skills the wind industry can benefit from.”
Alessandro Della Zoppa, Head of Renewables in Eni Gas & Luce, said: “We are glad to enter into a partnership with Red Rock Power for the ScotWind bid. Red Rock Power’s team brings significant experience in this sector and specifically in Scotland.
"We are confident that this collaboration will support Eni’s ambition to achieve its renewables targets, as well as contributing to the development of Scotland’s role in the decarbonization of the North Sea. The success of ScotWind will be crucial for developing the local industry in this sector and for positioning new technologies in a growing global market. Eni is committed to a Just Transition underlining a constant commitment to enhancing people’s value while seizing the opportunities offered by possible developments in the energy market, this is our driver as we continue our transformation journey.”
Eni has set a target to have 60 GW of renewables installed capacity by 2050. The company's first foray into the offshore wind was last year's acquisition of a 20 percent stake in the Dogger Bank Offshore Wind project. It also owns and operates several solar and onshore wind projects inside and outside Europe.
Several consortia have been formed in the past month for the purpose of bidding in the ScotWind lease sale.
Oil major TotalEnergies has partnered up with Macquarie Group's Green Investment Group, and Scotland's Renewable Infrastructure Development Group; Fred. Olsen Renewables teamed up Vattenfall; Ørsted will join forces with onshore wind community engagement firm Falck Renewables and floating wind expert BlueFloat Energy; and Ocean Winds, a 50-50 joint venture by EDP Renewables (EDPR) and ENGIE, is teaming up with Aker Offshore Wind, an Aker Solutions spinoff, to develop floating offshore wind generation sites in Scotland.