Power company Energias de Portugal plans to invest £13 billion in wind and solar projects in Britain by 2030. EDP intends to invest via its subsidiary EDP Renewables, which has 1 GW of offshore wind capacity under construction and 0.9 GW under development in Britain. EDP’s major wind investments are in the US market but the company wants to explore further opportunities which allow it to play a leading role in the UK’s energy transition.
As per a company statement, the £13 billion pound investment comes on top of a £2.65 billion investment in Scotland’s Moray East and Moray West offshore wind projects by Ocean Winds, EDP’s 50-50 joint venture with French utility Engie. EDP is to invest an additional £2.2 billion in the Moray West project, which will begin construction in 2022.
Ocean Winds entered the ScotWind leasing tender, aiming for a total capacity of 3.9 GW from a floating and fixed offshore wind project. The capital expenditure for both would be £10 billion. Winning bidders will get initial ScotWind offers in January 2022. EDP is also planning to invest around £660 million in UK onshore wind and solar power projects via a portfolio of 544 MW capacity.
REGlobal’s Views: UK has fast become a leading global market for clean energy deployments owing to its enabling policies and competitive market dynamics especially in the offshore wind segment. The recently launched Net Zero Strategy will further the country’s green power plans.
