OIL giant Total has bought into a giant wind farm off Scotland in a deal worth up to £130 million.
The French company has agreed to acquire a majority stake in the Seagreen One windfarm off the Agnus coast from Scottish Hydroelectric owner SSE.
Seagreen is expected to come into operation late in 2022 and is in line to become the biggest wind farm off Scotland. Total noted it has been designed to cover the energy needs of around one million homes.
The company’s decision to buy into Seagreen reflects its belief in the commercial potential of wind farms.
Should Government increase subsidies for renewables amid plunge in energy sector investment?
SSE gave the green light to the development yesterday after clinching the deal
Seagreen will benefit from subsidies provided for offshore renewables generators under the Contracts for Difference programme.
“This move represents a major change of scale for Total’s offshore wind activity in line with our strategy of profitable growth in renewables and low carbon electricity,” said Patrick Pouyanné, chairman and chief executive of Total.
The company has significant oil and gas operations in the North Sea
The Seagreen development will involve total investment of around £3 billion.
SSE negotiated the sale of a 51% stake in Seagreen to Total against the backdrop of extremely challenging market conditions.
The plunge in commodity prices triggered by the coronavirus has taken a heavy toll on the earnings of oil and gas companies. Demand for power has fallen.
ScottishPower sees electicity demand slump amid lockdown
SSE chief executive Alistair Phillip-Davies said it was delighted to be partnering with Total to deliver a wind farm that would make a significant contribution to the UK’s green recovery from coronavirus. He reckons low carbon power from Seagreen could help the UK achieve its net zero ambition.
Investment in Seagreen could provide a boost for the North Sea supply chain.
However, the 114 turbines for the wind farm will be manufactured on the Isle of Wight by Denmark's MHI Vestas, which has been awarded a 15-year maintenance contract for them.
North Sea at 'breaking point' as oil price turns negative in US
SSE bought Fluor’s 50% stake in Seagreen in 2018 in a £118m deal, taking its holding to 100%.
Total has agreed to pay an initial £70m and a further £60mn subject to performance conditions.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel