RWE has formed a joint venture with Masdar, the state-owned energy company in the United Arab Emirates, to develop the two Dogger Bank South offshore wind projects in the North Sea.
The wind farms, located 100 kilometres off the east coast of England in the shallow waters of Dogger Bank, will each have a capacity of 1.5GW.
RWE signed agreements for lease for the sites in January after securing seabed rights in the Crown Estate’s fourth offshore leasing round in February 2022.
Abu Dhabi-based Masdar will acquire a 49% stake in the projects and reimburse RWE for an equivalent proportion of the development costs to date. RWE will keep a 51% majority share and will continue to lead the development, construction and operation of the wind farms. The signing of the new partnership was confirmed during a ceremony at the COP28 climate summit currently taking place in Dubai.
Applications for Development Consent Orders for the projects are expected to be submitted in Q4 2024. The partners are aiming to fully commission the project by late 2031, with the first 800MW of generation coming online in 2029. Construction could begin as early as 2025.
Markus Krebber, chief executive of RWE, said: “We’re delighted to welcome Masdar onboard as our partner and co-investor in the delivery of our Dogger Bank South projects which, at 3 GW in size, make up RWE’s largest offshore wind development in the UK.
“With Masdar, we have a strong and renowned partner at our side who shares our ambition to further drive the growth of offshore wind energy. In combination with RWE’s many years of experience in the development, construction and operation of offshore wind farms, we are in an excellent position to strongly support the decarbonisation of the UK.”
Masdar chief executive Mohamed Jameel Al Ramahi said: “Masdar is very proud to be partnering with RWE to develop one of the world’s largest offshore wind farms. We are delighted to have come onboard at the early stages of this pioneering project, enabling us to leverage our shared passion and expertise in renewables. The UK is the world’s second largest offshore wind market and offers huge growth potential.”
RWE is currently developing six offshore wind projects in the UK, with a combined potential capacity of 5.6GW. Following the completion of the latest transaction, which is expected to close in the Q1 2024, RWE’s pro-rata share will amount to 2.8GW.
The pipeline includes the 1.4GW Sofia offshore wind farm, also located on Dogger Bank. RWE began offshore construction for the wind farm in September.