MOSCOW (MRC) -- BP completed the formation of its strategic US offshore wind partnership with Norway's Equinor, said the company.
Under the award, Equinor and incoming strategic partner BP will develop the 1,260 MW Empire Wind 2 and the 1,230 MW Beacon Wind 1 offshore wind projects. The execution of the procurement award is subject to the successful negotiation of a purchase and sale agreement.
Equinor and BP will also partner with the State of New York to transform the South Brooklyn Marine Terminal (SBMT) and the Port of Albany into large-scale offshore wind working industrial facilities.
“The U.S. East Coast is one of the most attractive growth markets for offshore wind in the world. The successful bids for Empire Wind 2 and Beacon Wind 1 represent a game-changer for our offshore wind business in the U.S. and underline Equinor’s commitment to be a leading company in the energy transition,” said Anders Opedal, CEO of Equinor.
The State of New York launched its second offshore wind solicitation in July 2020, seeking up to 2,500 MW of projects. Equinor is already developing the 816 MW Empire Wind Phase 1 wind farm which was selected in New York’s first-ever offshore wind solicitation in 2019 alongside Orsted and Eversource Energy’s Sunrise Wind project.
Empire Wind is located 15-30 miles southeast of Long Island and spans 80,000 ha, with water depths of between 65 and 131 feet. The lease was acquired in 2017 and is being developed in two phases. Beacon Wind is located 60 miles east of Montauk Point and 20 miles south of Nantucket and covers 128,000 ha. The lease was acquired in 2019 and has the potential to be developed with a total capacity of more than 2.4 GW.
The project, which was initially announced in September will be staffed equally from both companies once in in operation. This builds on BP’s strategy to become an integrated energy company, growing net renewable capacity from 2.5GW in 2019 to 20GW by 2025 and around 50GW by 2030.
The investment also contributes towards BP’s aim of increasing annual low-carbon investment ten-fold to around USD5bn a year by 2030.
We also remind that BP and Equinor confirmed they are shutting in production on their platforms, while Chevron, BHP and others said they are evacuating some personnel and considering decisions on production reductions.
Ethylene and propylene are feedstocks for producing PE and polypropylene (PP).
According to MRC's DataScope report, PE imports to Russia decreased in January-November 2020 by 17% year on year and reached 569,900 tonnes. High density polyethylene (HDPE) accounted for the greatest reduction in imports. At the same time, PP imports into Russia increased by 21% year on year to about 202,000 tonnes in the first eleven months of 2020. Propylene homopolymer (homopolymer PP) accounted for the main increase in imports.