ENGIE and EDP have signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to create a 50/50 joint venture dedicated to offshore wind. The new entity will be the exclusive vehicle of investment of EDP, through its subsidiary EDP Renewable, and ENGIE for offshore wind opportunities worldwide.
The JV will primarily target markets in Europe and the U.S., as well as select geographies in Asia. The combined company’s goal is to be self-financed.
Under the terms of the MoU, EDP, and ENGIE, will combine their offshore wind assets and project pipeline in the newly created JV, starting with a total of 1.5 GW under construction and 4.0 GW under development, with the target of reaching 5 to 7 GW of projects in operation or construction and 5 to 10 GW under advanced development by 2025.
“This agreement for wind offshore represents an important step in EDP’s renewables strategy,” said António Mexia, EDP CEO. “We are fully committed with the energy transition and a more sustainable future, as per the ambitious goals communicated in our strategic update. We are confident that this partnership will reinforce our distinctive position in renewables allowing us to accelerate our path in offshore wind, one of the key growth vectors in the next decade.”
For EDP and ENGIE, offshore wind energy is becoming an essential part of the global energy transition, leading to the market’s rapid growth and increased competitiveness. The companies believe that creating an entity with greater scale and a fully dedicated team, with global business development reach and strong power purchase agreement origination capabilities, will allow them to grow their asset base more rapidly and to operate more efficiently assuring a stable partnership.
“The creation of this JV will enable us to seize market opportunities while increasing our competitiveness on one of our key growth drivers, renewables,” said Isabelle Kocher, ENGIE CEO. “This agreement is also fully aligned with ENGIE’s zero-carbon transition strategy.”
The JV will primarily target markets in Europe, the U.S., and selected geographies in Asia, where most of the growth is expected to come from. The JV’s ambition is to be self-financed and the projects that will be developed will respect the investment criteria of both companies.
This ambitious alliance follows EDPR and ENGIE’s successful six-year cooperation as consortium partners in the Dieppe Le Tréport and Yeu Noirmoutier fixed offshore wind projects in France and Moray East and Moray West in the UK. EDPR, and ENGIE are also partners in two floating offshore wind projects in France and Portugal and in the Dunkerque offshore wind tender currently ongoing in France.
The execution of the project is subject to the respective social, corporate, legal, regulatory, and contractual approval processes. The Group’s’ aim for the JV is to be operational by the end of 2019.
Filed Under: News, Offshore wind, Projects
