The Portuguese power company Energias de Portugal (EDP) announced plans to invest 12.86 billion pounds in onshore and offshore renewable energy projects in the UK by 2030.

The investment will be made through its subsidiary EDP Renewables (EDPR). The company will invest nearly 660 million pounds over the next five years to expand its UK onshore business. In July 2021, it acquired a combination of 544MW of wind and solar energy in the UK for £71 million.

EDP said that its recent entry into the UK onshore market is part of its greater efforts to diversify its business in the country. It is said that the company is actively seeking new opportunities in this field and is negotiating with local partners on a 200 MW wind power project. Currently, EDP has 1GW of capacity under construction and 900MW of development capacity in the UK.

The Portuguese company has been active in the UK offshore market through its Ocean Winds joint venture (JV) with Engie. The 50:50 joint venture has invested £2.65 billion in 950MW Moray East and 900MW Moray West offshore wind projects in Scottish waters. With the installation of the last turbine recently completed, the Moray East project is expected to be put into operation in April 2022.

In the next 3-4 years, EDP plans to invest an additional £2.2 billion in Moray West to meet its additional capital expenditures. Offshore wind farms are currently at the stage of supply chain contract negotiation. The construction of the Moray West offshore wind farm is scheduled to begin in 2022. According to EDP, its Ocean Winds JV also participated in the ScotWind offshore leasing round. The joint venture has submitted bids for fixed and floating projects up to 9GW. Its goal is to have a minimum capacity of 3.9GW between fixed and floating projects. The capital expenditure of these two projects is estimated to reach 10 billion pounds.

EDPand EDPR CEO Miguel Stilwell d'Andrade said: "These plans to invest up to 13 billion pounds by 2030 underscore our commitment to the UK-the UK is a strategic market for the development of the group." "We are offshore. The market has established its position, and now we have entered the onshore market as a supplement, and we will explore any further opportunities that will enable us to continue to play a leading role in the UK’s energy transition."Editor/Baohongying