innogy Divests 41% Stake Of 860 Megawatt Triton Knoll Offshore Wind Farm

Germany energy company innogy has this week announced it has divested a 41% stake in the 860 megawatt (MW) Triton Knoll Offshore Wind Farm off the coast of Lincolnshire in the UK to two Japanese electric utilities, J-Power and Kansai Electric Power.

Night time turbine foundation installation works offshore.

Awarded a license to develop all the way back in 2004 by the UK’s Crown Estate, Triton Knoll Offshore Wind Farm has had to scale down in size from its original consideration of 1.2 gigawatts (GW) to its current 860 MW. The project has also passed through several developers’ hands including German electric utility RWE, Norwegian hydropower company Statkraft, and the current developer innogy, under the operation of its subsidiary Innogy Renewables UK.

In an effort to share the load, however, innogy announced this week that it had divested a 41% stake in the project to two Japanese electric utilities — Electric Power Development, operating under the name J-Power, which took a 25% stake, and Kansai Electric Power, which took a 16% stake.

“As we continue to grow our offshore portfolio across the globe, the securing of valued, strategic partnerships is a key objective within our strategy,” said Hans Bünting, Chief Operating Officer Renewables of innogy SE. “The signed agreement highlights the attractiveness of our offshore development projects. With J-Power and Kansai Electric Power we have found experienced and reliable partners and we are delighted to be working with them to successfully realise the Triton Knoll Offshore Wind Farm together.”

In September of last year, the UK Government’s Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) awarded Triton Knoll a contract under its Contracts for Difference (CfD) scheme with a strike price of £74.75 MW per hour (MWh), and is expected to begin generating electricity in 2021/22. While this is a relatively low strike price, it was not the lowest of the round, a prize which was taken away by DONG Energy (now Ørsted) for the 1,386 Hornsea 2 offshore wind farm and EDPR’s 950 MW Moray offshore wind farm.

Once fully operational, Triton Knoll will generate clean energy equivalent to the needs of 800,000 UK households and is being backed by investment to the tune of around £2 billion. Located 32 kilometers off the coast of Lincolnshire in the east of England, Triton Knoll will consist of 90 of MHI Vestas’ V164-9.5 MW wind turbines, the (currently) largest wind turbine in the world.

For the two Japanese electric utilities entering into this agreement, investment in Triton Knoll serves as a first step into a new market.

“We are very pleased to become a partner in innogy’s Triton Knoll Offshore Wind Farm project,” said Makoto Honda, Director and Executive Managing Officer, J-Power. “As the leading provider of wind power in Japan, we are very proud of entering into this overseas offshore wind power project which is a first for a Japanese electric power utility. We are actively continuing to develop new wind power projects both in the domestic market and in the overseas market”.

“We are very pleased to become a partner of innogy’s Triton Knoll Offshore Wind Farm project,” added Hiroshi Nakajima, Managing Executive Officer, International Business and Cooperation Division, Kansai Electric Power Company. “This is the first case of Japanese electric power utility which has entered into the overseas offshore wind power project. In Europe, since it is predicted that renewable energy will be drastically developed, we are very proud to achieving a new important milestone in the excellent relationship with innogy and J-Power.”