Norway's Statoil signed an agreement with Polish energy company Polenergia to acquire a 50 percent interest in two early phase offshore wind development projects in Poland, Statoil said on Tuesday.
The company said the two projects have a planned capacity of 1,200 megawatts with the potential to power more than two million Polish households.
'We are very pleased to have entered into a partnership with Polenergia, which is an experienced energy company with a growing renewable portfolio and in-depth knowledge of the Polish electricity market,' said Irene Rummelhoff, executive vice president of new energy solutions in Statoil.
She said that part of Statoil's ambition is to grow significantly in renewable energy by investing up to €10 billion in profitable renewable energy towards 2030.
'This acquisition strengthens our presence in the Baltic Sea area giving opportunities for scale and synergies in a longer perspective,' said Rummelhoff,
The Baltyk Srodkowy II and III wind farm areas are located in the Baltic Sea approximately 27 and 40 kilometers, respectively from the port of Leba in water depths of 20-40 meters.
Statoil is already developing the Arkona offshore wind farm together with EON in the German part of the Baltic Sea.
The company is also operating three offshore wind farms off the U.K. coast.
Offshore wind already has a strong foothold in Europe with over 15 gigawatts (GW) of installed capacity, with a potential to reach between 50 and 70 GW by 2030.
The Polish Baltic Sea has potential in excess of 8 GW, of which the first 4 GW could be operational by 2030.
By Murat Temizer
Anadolu Agency
energy@aa.com.tr