Equinor has entered into a swap transaction with bp under which Equinor will take full ownership of the Empire Wind lease and projects and bp will take full ownership of the Beacon Wind lease and projects.
Subject to certain conditions, Equinor will also take over bp’s 50% share of the South Brooklyn Marine Terminal lease, while bp will take over Beacon Wind Holdings and the associated project company holding the Astoria Gateway for Renewable Energy site and will become the operator of the Beacon Wind projects. The transaction will be cash neutral, except for standard settlements of cash and working capital items.
Following the signing of the agreement, a bid was submitted for the Empire Wind 1 project in New York’s fourth offshore wind solicitation round. It has also been agreed with the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority to terminate the Offshore Wind Renewable Energy Certificate Purchase and Sale Agreement for the Beacon Wind 1 project.
“We aspire to be a leading company in the energy transition,” says Pål Eitrheim, executive vice president of renewables at Equinor. “Building on our experience as a leading player in U.S. offshore wind, we now take full ownership of a mature, large-scale offshore wind project in a key energy market, where we have built a strong local organization.”
