Eni completes Dogger Bank Wind Farm stake buy

Italian oil and gas major Eni has completed the acquisition of a 20 per cent stake in the 1.2 GW Dogger Bank A and the 1.2 GW Dogger Bank B offshore wind farms in the UK.

Eni bought the stakes from Equinor (10 per cent) and SSE Renewables (10 per cent).

Following this transaction, the new overall shareholding in Dogger Bank A and Dogger Bank B is SSE Renewables (40 per cent), Equinor (40 per cent) and Eni (20 per cent).

Eni entered the Dogger Bank A and B assets effective from the financial close of project financing which was reached on 25 November 2020. The total consideration received at closing is GBP 206.4 million (EUR 237.4 million).

The A and B phases of the Dogger Bank Wind Farm reached financial close at competitive terms underlining the attractiveness of the UK offshore wind assets and the confidence in the joint venture, Equinor saIid.

The third phase of the wind farm, the 1.2 GW Dogger Bank C, is being developed under a different timeline with financial close to follow by the end of 2021. There is no change to the ownership of this phase, in which Equinor and SSE each have a 50 per cent stake.

The farm down to Eni is Equinor’s third offshore wind transaction in less than two years. The three transactions combined, divestments of non-operated interests in Arkona, Empire Wind /Beacon Wind, and Dogger Bank A and B projects, generated an accounting gain of approximately USD 1.5 billion (EUR 1.24 billion), the Norwegian energy company said.

Equinor divested around 2.5 GW capacity in the different project’s stages for the cash consideration of just under USD 2 billion.

Located more than 130 kilometres off the Yorkshire coast, Dogger Bank A and B will feature 190 Haliade-X 13 MW turbines scheduled to deliver the first electricity in 2023.

Total investment in the first two phases of the project will be around GBP 6 billion (EUR 6.73 billion), including offshore transmission capex of around GBP 830 million per phase, the developers said.

The wind farm is scheduled to be fully commissioned by 2026.