Vargronn – the Eni-backed Norwegian developer– completed its move into the European offshore wind big league as it took ownership of a 20% share in the 3.6GW Dogger Bank project that’s set to be the largest in service globally.
Vargronn completed a deal to take on the stake in the £11bn ($12.4bn) Dogger Bank formerly held by Plenitude, the clean energy arm of Italian oil & gas player Eni, which owned the projects alongside Norway’s Equinor and UK utility SSE.
The developer is a joint venture of Eni and Norwegian energy investor HitecVision. CEO Olav Hetland said: “We look forward to a strong cooperation with our experienced partners SSE Renewables and Equinor to construct and operate the world’s largest offshore wind farm.
“Vargronn will actively contribute to the project’s success while Dogger Bank learnings will enrich the skills and experience of the Vargronn team and make us an even stronger partner in the race for licenses in all our key markets.”
The stake in Dogger Bank, adding 720MW to its portfolio, is the most eye-catching part of a push by Vargronn to amass 5GW of installed or sanctioned offshore wind by 2030.
It also acquired other early-stage offshore wind developments in the deal to acquire the Dogger Bank stake, which was first announced in June.
Since then Vargronn – now 65% owned by Plenitude/Eni and 35% by HitecVision – has further raised its ambition with a move with Flotation Energy to enter Scotland’s INTOG round to decarbonise oil & gas assets, adding to plans to bid into auctions in its home Norwegian market.
Alongside closure of the Dogger Bank deal, Vargronn announced on Monday that it will open a London office by the end of 2022 “and is hiring new talents and experts with a plan to double the organisation by the end of the first half of next year”.
Dogger Bank, made up of three 1.2GW sub-projects off eastern England, is due to start generating first power next year from its fleet of GE Haliade-X turbines.
