Norway’s Statkraft is preparing a possible divestment of its shares in the operational Sheringham Shoal offshore wind farm, as well as the Dudgeon and the Dogger Bank projects.
The revised strategy follows the announcement in December 2015 that Statkraft would make no new investments in offshore wind. Preparations for the divestment will be carried out in close cooperation with existing partners, Statkraft said.
A possible divestment of all shares in Sheringham Shoal requires Statkraft to transfer its operatorship. Statkraft and Statoil have signed a letter of intent for the operator role to be transferred to Statoil.
Both parties have agreed a target date of January 2017 for the handover to take place and will now begin a process to advance a formal commercial agreement with all project shareholders. The wind farm is owned by Statkraft, Statoil and UK Green Investment Bank through the joint-venture company Scira Offshore Energy Limited.
“With Statoil primed to lead operations of the neighbouring 402MW Dudgeon project and Statkraft evaluating a divestment, it makes sense to transfer the Sheringham Shoal operatorship to Statoil,” Steinar Bysveen, Executive Vice President at Statkraft, said.
“Statkraft has played an important role in establishing Sheringham Shoal as one of the UK’s top performing offshore wind farms, and have forged strong relationships locally. We are confident these will continue to thrive in the future under Statoil’s leadership.”
The agreement of intent between Statkraft and Statoil includes an understanding that Statkraft intends to sell its share in the Dogger Bank project to Statoil. This ambition will be taken forward in discussion with innogy and SSE who each hold a 25% share in the Dogger Bank Consortium.
“We’re currently re-evaluating all of our existing offshore wind assets, with the exception of Triton Knoll, where we remain committed to working with innogy to develop the project towards an investment decision before bringing in new owners,” Bysveen said.
”We welcome the recent consent award for the electrical system from the Secretary of State and together with our partner innogy, our focus now is to ensure the project enters the next CfD auction as one of the most cost competitive offshore wind projects to date.”
The Dudgeon OWF is is owned by Statoil, Statkraft and Masdar through the joint venture company Dudgeon Offshore Wind Limited.