www.environmental-finance.com/
London, 16 October:
Masdar has taken a 20% stake in the London Array, the UK's flagship offshore wind farm that is due to begin operating in 2012. The Abu Dhabi government-backed clean energy investment company's involvement follows the withdrawal earlier this year of Royal Dutch/Shell from the project, leaving the London Array in the hands of two shareholders, power utilities E.ON and Denmark's DONG Energy.
Shell's decision cast doubts over whether the £2.4 billion ($4.1 billion), 1,000MW project would actually be built. The London Array is set to be the largest offshore wind farm in the world and represents a significant step towards the UK meeting its target of producing 20% of its electricity from offshore wind by 2020. Masdar paid an undisclosed sum to buy a 20% stake in the project from E.ON, leaving the German utility holding 30% and Dong the remaining 50%.
UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown said: "I very much welcome Masdar's decision to invest in renewable energy in the UK. This is an excellent example of the partnership we need between oil-producing and oil-consuming countries to develop new energy sources and technologies, diversifying their economies and reducing our dependence on carbon." Masdar and E.ON "will also extend their relationship further and intend to work together across a range of potential projects that will complement their existing renewable energy strategies", according to the German firm.
The initial focus will be on wind energy and the London Array project, but this will broaden out into other renewable energies and carbon emission reduction projects such as those under the UN's Clean Development Mechanism and Joint Implementation scheme.
A spokesman for E.ON said the firms were looking to develop projects "with similar scale and scope as the London Array". The Abu Dhabi government has invested $15 billion in Masdar, which in May committed $2 billion to start production on thin-film solar photovoltaic cells, and last month made a €120 million ($177 million) investment in Finnish wind turbine manufacturer WinWinD.
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