Royal Dutch Shell is considering bidding for rights to develop offshore wind farms in British waters as the Anglo-Dutch oil major seeks to re-enter the UK sector after a ten-year absence. Dorine Bosman, Shell’s vice-president of wind development, said that the company was interested in seabed leases that are due to be awarded this year by the Crown Estate. She said that Britain was one of the key offshore wind markets that it wanted to enter, adding that it was looking at options to buy into proposed projects that already have leases and are competing for subsidies to be awarded in the spring. Shell generates the vast majority of its $12 billion annual profits from producing and selling oil and gas, with operations in more than 70 countries. However, it is investing $2 billion a year in developing its “new energies” division focused on low-carbon power. It co-owns one small offshore wind farm in the Netherlands and a larger project under construction there. Last month it spent $175 million on entering the nascent American market, acquiring the rights to seabed leases that could support 4.1 gigawatts of wind farms.
Times 2nd Jan 2019 read more »