PETALING JAYA: Tenaga Nasional Bhd’s (TNB) wholly owned subsidiary, Vantage RE Ltd, has entered into a share purchase agreement to acquire a 49% stake in an offshore wind farm company, Blyth Offshore Demonstrator Ltd from EDF Renewables (EDFR), a subsidiary of the French utility company Électricité de France (EDF).
The acquisition marks the group’s maiden entry into the international offshore wind market as Blyth Offshore currently owns offshore wind assets off the coast of Blyth, Northumberland, England.
The assets include five turbines with a total installed capacity of 41.5MW and further development rights for a floating offshore wind project of up to 58.4MW located off the Northumberland coast.
TNB said the wind farm has been in operation since 2017 under the Renewable Obligation Certificates subsidy regime that is expected to provide stable revenues. Meanwhile, the floating offshore assets project dubbed Blyth 2 is currently in the early stage of development.
TNB president and CEO Datuk Baharin Din said the utility company aims to grow its renewable energy (RE) capacity to 8,300MW by 2025.
“We believe this partnership will give us an edge in an increasingly competitive industry as we look to rapidly scale up our global RE portfolio and strengthen our position in the future energy landscape.”
He is confident that the partnership would allow the group to fully benefit from EDFR’s extensive experience in the offshore wind sector across TNB’s focus markets, mainly UK, Europe and Southeast Asia.
“It not only sets the pace for Vantage RE to grow in the UK and Europe, but also provides a solid pathway for TNB to accelerate its ambition to be a leading provider of sustainable energy solutions.”
Baharin believes the involvement in the UK offshore wind sector will allow it to capitalise on the vast experience of the existing Vantage RE management, broaden its technology know-how and provide further capability and talent development within the group.
TNB has been investing in the UK’s solar and wind sectors since 2017 and with the latest addition, TNB will be operating close to 450MW of RE investments (wind and solar farms) in the country.
This acquisition is also part of its strategy to accelerate its journey in delivering on its global environmental, social and governance vision.
“We recently announced our Sustainability Pathway, a blueprint with an aspiration to achieve net zero emissions by 2050. The Pathway is underpinned by our commitment to reduce 35% of TNB’s emissions intensity as well as 50% of our coal generation capacity by 2035,” Baharin said.
