Statoil Increases in UK Offshore Wind
Sheringham Shoal Wind Farm – Alain O’ Neill/Statoil ASA
Statoil and Statkraft have signed a letter of intent that Statoil takes over as operator of the Sheringham Shoal Offshore Wind Farm from January 2017. Sheringham Shoal is one of the world’s ten largest producing offshore wind farms. Located off the coast of Norfolk, it has been in operation since 2012 and has a capacity of 317MW.
“Taking over the operatorship for Sheringham Shoal represents a milestone for Statoil, as our first operatorship during commercial operations. As operator of both the Sheringham Shoal and Dudgeon offshore wind farms, located in the same area, we can further improve efficiency and increase competitiveness across the projects,” says Irene Rummelhoff, Statoil’s Executive Vice President for New Energy Solutions.
Statoil and Statkraft each hold a 40% share in Sheringham Shoal, with 20% held by the UK Green Investment Bank. Through today’s agreement, Statoil is also increasing its share in the Dogger Bank projects, with the desire of bringing Statoil’s total ownership from 25% up to a potential of 50% through an acquisition of Statkraft’s share in Dogger Bank. The final shareholding in Dogger Bank, and the transfer of operatorship for Sheringham Shoal, is pending partner and government approvals.