Electricity for around 6.4 million households
Within the space of just one year, the 50:50 partnership between Karlsruhe-based EnBW Energie Baden-Württemberg AG and London-based bp aimed at expanding renewable energies has evolved into a recipe for success: together, they have been awarded contracts to construct offshore wind farms capable of generating 6 GW, which will be able to supply around 6.4 million households with electricity in the future.
The projects
Irish Sea
The joint venture partners’ first positive result was the awarding of the contract in January 2021 to develop a 3 GW area in the Irish Sea off the coast of Great Britain. At the auction for the allocation of land rights by the British Crown Estate, the two partners secured the contracts for two large areas, which are rated as the highest quality areas in the Irish Sea in the first offshore wind land auction in England and Wales for ten years.
EnBW and bp are planning to build the two offshore wind farms ‘Mona’ and ‘Morgan’ here, which are set to go into operation from 2028 and will then be able to supply around 3.4 million households with electricity.
Coast of Scotland
Exactly one year later, also in January, the partners secured the contract for a 2.9 GW site off the east coast of Scotland, Scotland being currently considered one of the most relevant offshore markets. According to Crown Estate Scotland, the equal partners were able to beat off strong competitors in the ScotWind bidding process. According to the authority, technological expertise was one of the key selection criteria. The roughly 860-square-kilometre option within the ‘E1’ area is situated almost 60 kilometres off the coast of Aberdeen and is characterised by its advantageous location in terms of water depth and wind conditions. The ‘Morven’ wind farm – which means ‘child of the sea’ in the Scottish Gaelic language – is set to be built here from 2026/2027 and generate wind power capable of supplying more than three million households.
About EnBW
With these two projects, EnBW is making a decisive contribution to the British government's targets for the expansion of renewable energies. The company is represented in the UK by its wholly owned subsidiaries, EnBW Generation UK Ltd. and EnBW UK Ltd. with its divisions generation and trading. In the field of offshore wind power, EnBW was one of the pioneers with the Baltic 1 wind farm in the Baltic Sea. In January 2020, the company commissioned ‘EnBW Hohe See and Albatros’, Germany’s largest offshore project with a total capacity of 609 megawatts. Besides the offshore wind farms, which are being developed together with partner bp, EnBW’s next wind farm – ‘He Dreiht’ in the German North Sea, with a capacity of 900 megawatts – is set to be connected to the grid in 2025 without state subsidies.