Multinationals plan to invest in British wind energy

Robin Pagnamenta: Energy Editor

Ikea, the Swedish home goods retailer, and Google, the American internet giant, are among a growing list of multinationals that are considering investing in Britain’s offshore wind industry, according to one of Europe’s most senior energy dealmakers.
John Lynch, head of power and utilities at Bank of America Merrill Lynch, told a CBI energy conference yesterday that the sector was attracting strong interest from a variety of companies keen to invest in renewable power to help meet commitments to cut their carbon emissions.
He also named Microsoft and Wal-Mart as businesses that had been examining opportunities. “We are seeing a lot of interest in UK offshore wind,” Mr Lynch said. “This is a technology that the UK is leading in and these companies are looking at ways to get involved because it meets their own corporate social responsibility objectives ... It’s anecdotal at the moment but there is certainly a lot of interest.”
Ikea has a long-term plan to supply all of its stores, warehouses and offices worldwide with 100 per cent renewable energy generated from wind, solar, biofuel and geothermal power.
The company is exploring ways to achieve this goal, with one option being the acquisition of minority stakes in wind parks or in solar farms operated by utility companies.
A spokeswoman for Google declined to comment on specific investment opportunities in which the company might be interested, but she pointed out that it has a long-standing commitment to renewable energy.
Computer data centres require large amounts of electricity for power and cooling, and consume about 2 per cent of all US energy generation.
Just one facility can draw approximately 40 megawatts of electricity — enough to supply a town of 40,000 people.
The Google spokeswoman said the company was “working to develop electricity from renewable energy sources that is cheaper than electricity produced from coal, with a goal of producing one gigawatt of renewable energy capacity — enough to power a city the size of San Francisco — in years, not decades”.
As part of this effort, she said that Google was making a series of strategic investments and grants.
Mr Lynch said the projects that were attracting the greatest interest were the giant “Round Three” offshore wind farm projects that are being offered by the Crown Estate, which owns Britain’s seabed.
To meet its target of cutting carbon emissions by 80 per cent by 2050 compared with 1990, Britain has launched a programme to expand its offshore wind farms, already the world’s biggest at about one gigawatt, to between 33 and 40 gigawatts by 2020.
To achieve this, about £100 billion of investment will be required by 2020, the Crown Estate reported this month.
The figures include up to £70 billion for wind turbines, £10 billion to £20 billion for power transmission systems and a further £10 billion to £20 billion for other items.
The total generating capacity of all Britain’s power stations and wind farms stands at about 75 gigawatts.
The Round 3 offshore wind projects are divided into nine zones with the first turbine expected to be in the water in 2014.
Dermot Grimson, head of external affairs for the Crown Estate, said the group had been briefing a very wide range of groups about the projects.