BP Enters Offshore Wind Market Through New US Partnership With Equinor

By Jaime Llinares Taboada

BP PLC said Thursday that it has agreed a partnership with Equinor ASA to develop offshore wind projects in the U.S.

The FTSE 100 oil giant said this will be its first offshore wind venture. Both companies will jointly develop four assets in two existing offshore wind leases in New York and Massachusetts.

In addition, BP will buy a 50% interest in the Empire Wind and Beacon Wind projects from Equinor for $1.1 billion. Equinor will remain the operator of the projects.

"This is an important early step in the delivery of our new strategy and our pivot to truly becoming an integrated energy company," BP's chief executive Bernard Looney said.

BP this summer pledged to develop 50 gigawatts of renewable power by 2030 and to ten-fold low carbon investment to around $5 billion a year.

The deal, which is expected to close in early 2021, "will leverage BP's trading expertise and onshore wind experience with Equinor's sector-leading track record in offshore wind", the company's vice president for gas and low carbon energy, Dev Sanyal, said.

Write to Jaime Llinares Taboada at [e-mail]; @JaimeLlinaresT

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

September 10, 2020 02:31 ET (06:31 GMT)

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