BP, Total win in $14 billion German offshore wind site tender

Oil majors BP and TotalEnergies emerged as the winners in a 7 gigawatt (GW) offshore wind site auction in Germany, with total successful awards for four locations amounting to 12.6 billion euros ($13.96 billion).

Oil majors BP and TotalEnergies emerged as the winners in a 7 gigawatt (GW) offshore wind site auction in Germany, with total successful awards for four locations amounting to 12.6 billion euros ($13.96 billion). "The results confirm the attractiveness of investments in offshore wind power in Germany," said Klaus Mueller, president of the regulator, the Bundesnetzagentur. He called the move an important step towards reaching a national offshore capacity goal of 30 GW by 2030.

Three sites in the tender for building 2 GW of offshore turbine capacity are located around 120 km north west of the island of Heligoland in the North Sea and one with 1 GW lies in the Baltic Sea, some 25 km away from the island of Ruegen. BP won the rights to develop two projects, marking its entry into offshore wind in continental Europe and representing 4 GW out of the total, it said in a separate statement.

Awards for the other two sites -- which include rights to develop, build and operate the plants and to receive network connections -- went to TotalEnergies, the French company said in a statement. Ninety percent of the revenue from the tender will go to reducing electricity costs and marine protection measures.

BP said that the move was fully aligned with its integrated energy strategy and disciplined capital allocation. It said it expected returns from the project of between 6-8%.

BP's initial payments totalling 678 million euros, equivalent to 10% of the bid amount, will be paid by July 2024 and the remaining 90% over a 20-year period when the projects become operational. ($1 = 0.9026 euros)