RWE Renewables, National Grid Team Up in U.S. Offshore Wind Push

German renewable energy giant RWE Renewables and UK-based National Grid, one of the world’s largest publicly listed utilities, on Thursday signed a partnership deal to jointly develop offshore wind projects in the coastal region of the Northeast U.S.

RWE and National Grid Ventures, the non-regulated division of National Grid, will collaborate to explore opportunities in the U.S. offshore wind sector. This includes a plan to jointly bid in the forthcoming seabed lease auction in the New York Bight.

"RWE and National Grid share a common goal of enabling the clean energy future, and offshore wind will be critical for the U.S., particularly in the Northeast, to reduce carbon emissions and meet climate goals, such as New York state’s target of bringing 9,000 megawatts (MW) of offshore wind online by 2035," RWE Renewables said.

“Our partnership with National Grid represents an exciting milestone for RWE to further grow our renewable energy business in the U.S.,” said Sven Utermöhlen, Chief Operating Officer Offshore Wind Global of RWE Renewables. “While we are an established presence in the U.S. with our onshore wind, solar and storage activities, this partnership will support RWE’s plans to realize a sizeable position in the offshore wind space. We look forward to working with National Grid to advance the clean energy transition in the U.S.”

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“We’re very pleased to partner with RWE as we take our first steps towards developing offshore wind projects in the Northeast U.S.,” said Cordi O’Hara, incoming President of National Grid Ventures. “This partnership further solidifies National Grid’s role in advancing a clean, fair and affordable energy future and will also complement our growing onshore renewables business, which includes a strong pipeline of solar, wind and battery storage projects across the country.”

RWE is currently constructing the 857 MW offshore wind farm Triton Knoll off the English coast and the 342-megawatt project Kaskasi off the German island Heligoland. Also, RWE has taken the investment decision for its 1,4 GW project Sofia, one of the largest offshore wind farms in the world.

National Grid will bring local expertise in the Northeast along with its experience developing large-scale infrastructure projects, subsea cable capabilities from its portfolio of interconnectors that facilitate the transfer of renewable energy between the UK and Europe.