European Energy and Eni-HitecVision offshore wind joint venture Vargronn have formed a partnership to jointly pursue offshore wind opportunities in the Baltic Sea.
The partners are focusing on emerging offshore wind opportunities in Lithuania, Estonia and Latvia.
The Baltic states have significant offshore wind potential, with a total of 15.4GW of estimated possible capacity across Lithuania, Estonia and Latvia.
Authorities across the three countries are now opening several areas for development through upcoming tenders, with Lithuania launching two tenders for spring and autumn 2023, followed by Estonia with a pipeline of 7GW to be tendered late 2023.
“The Baltic Sea has huge capability to power Europe’s energy transition through offshore wind, delivering energy security and contributing to reach collective climate targets,” said chief executive of Vargronn Olav Hetland.
“With Vargronn’s initial projects having focused on the North Sea, we are very pleased to be partnering with European Energy to develop offshore wind across the Baltic states,” he said.
“European Energy’s strong track record in developing onshore renewables in this region, combined with their continued strong local presence, makes them an ideal partner for us.”
Chief executive of European Energy Knud Erik Andersen added: “The Baltic states will undergo a rapid transformation in their energy supply in the coming years.
“In European Energy we want to support this transformation, and we believe that we can best do this by partnering up with Vargronn, who has extensive offshore expertise and strong financial capacity can build on their experience from offshore wind projects in the North Sea.”
The companies will work jointly across the whole offshore wind lifecycle, from development and financing, through to construction and operation.