German utility EnBW has formed a joint venture with US outfit Trident Winds to develop the up to 1GW Morro Bay floating offshore wind project off the coast of California.
The joint venture will initially focus on obtaining the site lease from the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management and securing the grid connection, which became available following the shutdown of the Morro Bay power plant.
EnBW has set up a regional subsidiary called EnBW North America, which together with the JV mark its first steps toward tapping the potential of the US offshore market, the company said.
EnBW head of generation portfolio development Dirk Gusewell said: “EnBW will have a direct presence in this promising market to capture opportunities and to further build up EnBW’s offshore project portfolio.”
The company has 336MW of offshore wind in operation in the German Baltic Sea and 610MW under construction in the German North Sea. An additional 900MW is under development in the German North Sea.
“With a view to long-term growth, EnBW will invest over €5bn in further expansion of renewables,” it said.
Earlier this year, EnBW missed out securing offshore capacity in Taiwan’s first offshore wind auction.
Image: reNEWS
EnBW floats into US offshore
By EBS