BP and Equinor Offshore Wind Deal

September 15, 2020

BP and Equinor have announced a deal worth $1.1bn that will allow BP to buy 50% non-operating interests relating to four major offshore wind developments from Norway’s Equinor.

The developments include Empire Wind, located off Long Island, and Beacon Wind, located off New England. 

The Empire Wind project is expected to begin operation in the mid-2020s and will be developed in two phases. Phase One will consist of the installation of 60 to 80 turbines. Phase two is yet to be defined. The area could produce up to 2 GW of electricity, enough to power more than 1 million homes. The Beacon Wind project’s land lease was acquired by Equinor in 2019, and they are currently working on the survey and permitting process. Together the projects could generate up to 4.4 gigawatts (GW), enough to power more than two million homes.

Equinor will remain the operator of both projects, while BP employees will join the development and construction phases to execute both bottom-fixed and floating offshore wind facilities as part of the companies’ partnership. It is anticipated that the wind farms will be equally staffed to combine strengths that will allow them to grow a profitable offshore wind business.

Both Equinor and BP have set ambitious targets to develop renewable power generation capacity over the next decade. Equinor intends on meeting a capacity of between 12 – 16GW before 2035, whereas BP has set a target to develop 50 GW across the USA before 2030.

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By Ana Aspe