A 50/50 joint venture between Macquarie’s Green Investment Group (GIG) and Total has been successful in securing rights to a seabed lease in the Eastern Regions zone in the Crown Estate’s Offshore Wind Leasing Round 4.
The project, which will be located off the U.K.’s East Anglian coast, could deliver up to 1.5 GW of renewable electricity and represents a significant early stage investment in the U.K. offshore wind sector for both companies.
“Total is delighted to have been awarded 1.5 GW as part of the 4th Round of offshore wind leases from The Crown Estate with our partner GIG,” says Julien Pouget, senior vice president of renewables at Total. “We continue to support the energy transition goals of the U.K. This project is our largest renewables development in Europe to date and an important step toward our 2050 net-zero ambition.”
Total and GIG were awarded this lease for an annual option fee of £83,000 per MW/year, during the development phase. There will now be a habitat regulations assessment (HRA) of the possible impact of the project on relevant nature conservation sites in the allotted area. Following the successful conclusion of that process, the final agreements for the lease will be signed sometime in 2022.
This will be a massive project! Would be so cool to see it in person once they’re all built (if it goes from testing to full scale roll out).
I’d be curious to see how this integrates with large ships and cruise lines in the area.