Malaysia’s largest electricity utility Tenaga Nasional Berhad (TNB) has entered the offshore wind market by taking a minority stake in EDF Renewables’ Blyth offshore wind farm in north east England.
Under the agreement via its wholly-owned subsidiary Vantage RE, TNB now owns 49% of the shares of the Blyth Offshore Demonstrator Limited (BODL).
EDF Renewables UK remains the majority shareholder with a 51% share in BODL, which includes the existing 41.5MW wind farm and the development rights for a new Blyth floating project that will have a capacity of up to 58.4MW.
EDF Renewables will also continue to provide asset management services to the existing operational wind farm and to lead the development of the floating offshore project.
Community Benefit fund arrangements remain unchanged.
EDF Renewables UK chief executive Matthieu Hue said: “Blyth is an innovative site which allows us to experiment with new technologies in offshore wind energy and we are very happy to start a partnership with Tenaga Nasional Berhad.
“These kind of partnerships demonstrate the quality of the assets we develop and the appeal of our business for investment partners.
“They also allow us to invest in new renewables projects such as our recent acquisitions including the Codling offshore wind park development in Ireland, and a number of solar projects to be built next year in the UK.”
TNB president and chief executive Datuk Baharin Din said: “The strategic partnership with EDF Renewables marks TNB’s foray into the international offshore wind sector, diversifying beyond the group’s existing onshore wind and solar portfolios in the UK that have been in operation over the last four years.
“With this alliance, both TNB and EDF Renewables reiterate our shared vision and commitment in driving sustainable development towards a low carbon society.
“We believe this will give us an edge in an increasingly competitive industry, as we look forward to an exciting and fruitful partnership that will open up more opportunities not just in Europe, but also in south-east Asia.”
The new partnership is aligned to EDF Group’s CAP 2030 strategy which aims to reach 60GW of net renewable capacity worldwide in the next nine years.