BP may build two offshore wind farms in late 2024 to supply electric vehicle charges – if planning permission allows.
As reported by The Times, the oil and gas company is planning to build wind farms that would boast up to 214 turbines about 20 miles off the coasts of north Wales and northwest England and could power 3.4 million homes.
BP chief executive officer Bernard Looney said it may not seek government subsidy contracts to guarantee its revenues. So far, every UK offshore wind farm was been built with a form of government subsidy scheme.
The contracts guarantee that consumers pay a fixed price for electricity from the wind farms, topping up market prices with subsidies when required and offering valuable revenue certainty to developers.
As BP plans to use the electricity to supply EV chargers and to make green hydrogen through electrolysis, a contract might not be needed.
Looney said the company “not enter any [contracts for difference] auction actually, because our strategy is to use the electrons [electricity] for our own use where we can. There’s a lot of green electricity demand for us in the UK.”
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Many wind farms have faced delays with planning permission and connecting to the national grid. BP is not expecting to apply for planning consent until next year, which usually takes at least a year.
Looney said “the big issue has been the grid connection”, which he believed the company was “very close” to securing.
“I think the teams have made really, really good progress, which is what is giving us more confidence around maybe having a shorter lease period in terms of lease payments,” he added.
RenewableUK director Barnaby Wharton said the potential for wind farms to be developed with no contracts for difference support showed “confidence in the UK’s offshore wind market during challenging economic times worldwide.”
