Masdar partnered with Norway’s Statoil and Statkraft in a £1.5 billion offshore wind farm project, off the Norfolk coast in Eastern England. The partnership for the 402MW project is now a combination of a 35% stake acquired by Masdar, 35% stake retained by Statoil, who remains as operator of the project as well, and the remaining 30% owned by Statkraft.
“As the only OPEC nation supplying both traditional and renewable energy to international markets, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) is committed to accelerating the use of wind energy as an effective means of balancing the global energy mix as we move toward a sustainable, low carbon future,” said Dr. Sultan Al Jaber, chairman of Masdar, Abu Dhabi’s renewable energy company.
The investment was announced on the sidelines of the United Nations’ Climate Change Summit taking place in New York, in the presence of Dr. Sultan Al Jaber, Helge Lund (Statoil, CEO), Christian Rynning-Tonnesen (Statkraft, CEO), and Ed Davey (UK Secretary of State for Energy & Climate Change).
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Masdar’s stake in Dudgeon is the company’s second major investment in the UK offshore wind energy market. When completed, Dudgeon will provide clean, reliable energy to approximately 410,000 households in the UK. Offshore construction is scheduled to start in 2016 and the project is expected to be fully operational in late 2017. Aside from this, the company also has a 20% stake in the 630 MW London Array project, the world’s largest offshore wind farm.
Helge Lund, CEO of Statoil said: “Statoil brings extensive offshore competence, while Statkraft brings expertise from the power generation industry. Masdar’s experience and ambitions within renewable energy will add to the quality in this project.”
The decision to become a partner in Dudgeon underscores Masdar’s belief that the UK represents a major market for investment in offshore wind energy. It also extends the UAE’s leadership as a major provider of energy. Dudgeon adds to Masdar’s broad portfolio of existing clean energy projects. This includes one of the world’s largest CSP plants – the 100MW Shams 1 in the UAE – and the 117MW Tafila wind farm in Jordan, alongside numerous other projects. Collectively, they illustrate how the UAE is leading the Middle East’s response in accelerating the deployment and adoption of clean energy around the world.