Moray West: first UK offshore wind farm based on purchase agreements

ENGIE is financing the £2 billion Moray West wind farm in Scotland, which relies on renewable power purchase agreements with companies for its production. ENGIE's joint venture, Ocean Winds, has tripled the size of its project portfolio since its creation in 2020.

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ENGIE, through its joint venture Ocean Winds, announces that it has completed the financing of the Moray West offshore wind farm in Scotland for £2 billion.

Moray West contributes to access to low-cost, low-carbon electricity

Moray West is the first offshore wind farm in the UK to rely primarily on commercial renewable power purchase agreements to market its output. Contracts have been signed with strategic partners for over 50% of production, representing the largest such contracts implemented in the UK market to date.

The Moray West wind farm has an installed capacity of 882 MW with 60 turbines. One third of the installed capacity was obtained through a Contract for Difference (CFD) to market the remaining output of the project. Construction of this park had already begun, enabling the local supply chain to be put in place, including using the Scottish ports of Invergordon and Nigg, and Buckie as an operations and maintenance base. The construction phase of the Moray West wind farm will create a total of 1,000 direct jobs in the UK.

The financial close allows the project to secure the remaining elements of the supply chain in preparation for the offshore installation work scheduled for late 2023. Moray West is expected to reach full production by 2025, contributing to the UK and Scotland’s renewable energy targets and providing the equivalent of 1.3 million households a year with access to long-term, low-cost, decarbonized electricity.

Moray West: a key project for ENGIE and Ocean Winds

ENGIE, through Ocean Winds, has a portfolio of 6.1 GW in the UK, with all its projects located in Scottish waters. In addition to the Moray West wind farm under construction and the Moray East wind farm already in operation since 2022, Ocean Winds has secured the rights to develop the Caledonia offshore wind farm and two floating projects east of the Shetland Islands, for a total of 2.3 GW. With 15 projects in 7 countries, Ocean Winds currently has a portfolio of 1.5 GW of projects in operation and 15.1 GW under construction and development worldwide. ENGIE’s joint venture has tripled the size of its project portfolio since its creation in 2020.

ENGIE is a leading global low-carbon energy and services group. With its 96,000 employees, customers, partners and stakeholders, the Group is committed every day to accelerating the transition to a carbon-neutral world through more energy-efficient and environmentally friendly solutions. ENGIE’s revenue in 2022 amounted to €93.9 billion. ENGIE reconciles economic performance with a positive impact on people and the planet by relying on its key businesses (gas, renewable energies, services) to offer competitive solutions to its customers.

The financial close of the Moray West offshore wind farm is an important milestone for ENGIE and its joint venture Ocean Winds in achieving their common goal of providing low-cost, low-carbon renewable energy to meet the world’s growing energy needs while contributing to the fight against climate change.

The Moray West offshore wind farm is an important step towards this goal, providing renewable energy to businesses and large numbers of homes, while helping to create local jobs and support economic growth in the region.

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