BP joint venture could revolutionise offshore wind industry

Both companies have agreed to combine their offshore wind businesses to form a new, standalone, equally owned joint venture that they say will become one of the largest offshore wind developers, owners and operators in the world.

The new company, named JERA Nex bp, will have a total potential generation capacity of 13GW – roughly a fifth of total current operational capacity worldwide, according to Global Wind Energy Council figures, which was 64.3GW at the end of 2022.

This comprises a 7.5GW pipeline of projects under development, secured leases of 4.5GW and 1GW net generating capacity.

The two companies say they will accelerate development from the combined pipeline of assets and ‘bolster access to competitive financing’.

JERA has been involved with offshore wind in Japan and the UK since 2019, and last year bought Belgian offshore wind firm Parkwind and formed JERA Nex. It owns and operates wind farms in Europe, Japan and Taiwan and has a development plan for projects in Ireland and Australia.

BP is developing projects in the UK Irish Sea, Germany’s North Sea, Scotland and the US.

“Supporting this, the partners have agreed to provide capital funding for investments committed to before end of 2030 of up to $5.8 billion,” the new firm says.

“We are very pleased to have reached agreement with JERA to form a top five wind developer globally,” said BP CEO Murray Auchincloss. “This will be a very strong vehicle to grow into an electrifying world, while maintaining a capital-light model for our shareholders.

“We very much look forward to combining our strengths in Europe and Asia-Pacific to create another innovative platform.”

Yukio Kani, CEO of JERA, said: “Offshore wind has significant potential and is a critical component of the energy transition. The sector is at an inflection point, and we believe the transformative partnership launched today between our two companies combines the resources, capabilities, and network necessary to be a world-class offshore wind company, and in doing so, realise the potential of offshore wind globally, while positioning this business for long term success.

“This announcement also demonstrates JERA’s commitment to the offshore business in Europe, Japan and the rest of the world and is a natural evolution of our strategy that places collaboration at the heart of our approach to renewables.”

While the 13GW target is impressive by today’s total, it will be dwarfed if the global target of 380GW by 2032 is met.

JERA Nex bp will be head-quartered in London, with official completion of the set-up expected in the third quarter of 2025.