BP JERA Offshore, Ørsted Cathay Insurance Deal

On News Flash this week we cover BP and JERA joining forces to
create a offshore wind partnership called JERA Nex. Also Ørsted has
signed an agreement with Cathay Life Insurance to sell a 50% stake
in the Changhua 4 offshore wind farm. And Solaria has announced
plans to reach 14. 3 gigawatts of install capacity by 2028. Sign up
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https://www.windaustralia.com Welcome to Uptime News Flash.
Industry news lightning fast. Your hosts, Alan Hall, Joel Saxom,
and Phil Totaro discuss the latest deals, mergers, and alliances
that will shape the future of wind power. News Flash is brought to
you by IntelStor. For market intelligence that generates revenue,
visit www. intelstor. com. Allen Hall: First up this week, Phil, BP
and JERA are joining forces to create a major offshore wind
partnership called JERA Next. BP and this equally owned joint
venture will have a total of 13 gigawatts potential net generating
capacity combining the operating assets and the development
projects all together. The partners have committed up to 5. 8
billion in capital funding through 2030. All right, BP is trying to
slowly back away from some renewable energy projects, but now
they've joined forces with JIRA. I want to understand what this
dynamic is. Philip Totaro: Well, it's fascinating because with the
resignation as well of the, BP offshore wind executive, their
executive director It's almost like this is the full effect of the
oil and gas pivot coming to fruition. It's kind of, it sounds to
me, the way I read this is the resignation of, we're not really
going to do offshore wind except through this venture with JERA
from now on where they basically do all the work and we'll take a
percentage. But it's, it just feels like BP's got bigger issues
because even their oil and gas business isn't the healthiest at the
moment. So, they're pivoting and focusing on that whilst providing
JIRA the opportunity to continue the growth that they've been on.
Joel Saxum: BP is confusing me here. I feel like their operations
strategy and marketing and PR departments need to go and sit in a
room together to figure out what they're actually doing. They're in
the midst of selling all their onshore assets in the U. S. We know
that. They've, sold stakes in certain offshore projects in the U.
S. They've said they're not going to do wind. They said they were
going to do wind. So it'd be interesting to watch this one. And I
think Phil, the, what you're talking about is mirroring some of
what others are doing, right? Like we know Shell now, Shell's out.
They're like, we're not doing offshore wind anymore. And we've seen
Econor take a stake in Orsted to be able to provide capital,
provide support, but kind of stand back and let the other people do
it and just be a part of it. And that's what it looks like BP is
doing here more now. So maybe that just aligns with their strategy
a bit better. For the long haul. So maybe we'll see some more
people doing this, just providing capital, being a part of it, but.
Allen Hall: Orsted has signed an agreement with Cathay Life
Insurance, Taiwan's leading insurance company, to sell a 50 percent
stake in the 583 megawatt grater Changhua 4 offshore wind farm. The
1. 6 billion transaction includes both ownership and funding
commitments, with payments scheduled for 2024 and 2025. Phil,
Orsted could use the cash right now to help fund other projects.
Kathy is a unique partner though that being it from the insurance
company And that's their focus is mostly insurance, I believe.
Philip Totaro: Yeah, I mean, it's not the first time insurance
companies have made investments in projects, particularly minority
investments. I mean, we've got John Hancock making, onshore wind
investments in the U. S. But I think this is actually the first
time that Cathay Life has dove into any kind of power generation at
all, let alone renewable power generation. So, good on them for
that. But it's also a recognition that they have the capital to be
able to invest and they want and need to be able to park their
money somewhere. And it's a sign that they're taking some
confidence in the Taiwanese offshore market at the moment, which
has had, a few fits and starts lately with, some policy hurdles and
some, power offtake and pricing hurdles that I hope are largely
resolved at this point. But it's certainly enough for Cathay Life
to be able to plunk down some cash. Joel Saxum: I like this move
from Orsted. We've seen a lot of these kind of things happen, but
what Orsted is doing, as you look at the greater mission of the
company, is to get assets out there churning, to get, to help with
the energy transition to make a greener, greener economy in the
future. And what they're doing is just that. They're cycling
capital and getting partners on board after they built some things
to get money in the door, give off some ownership, and then move on
to the next project. So I'd like, I like to see what they're doing
and I like to see a lot of that come in from other companies in the
future. Allen Hall: And Solaria has announced plans to reach 14. 3
gigawatts of install capacity by 2028, working towards their
ultimate goal of 18 gigawatts by 2030. The company is currently
constructing 1. 4 gigawatts of photovoltaic plants in Spain with
secured financing. Now, Phil, Solaria has a portfolio of mostly
solar. a little wind and a tiny amount of batteries, but they're a
big player in Spain with 18 gigawatts by 2030. Philip Totaro: Yeah,
and they actually want to expand significantly in wind, which says
to me that they're probably on the hunt for Projects that, I mean,
certainly greenfield projects, but also potentially repowering
opportunities in Spain, which there are plenty Spain has one of the
older average lifespans of its installed base and needs to, get a
little more serious about asset repowering and for Solaria to come
in and want to deploy capital on wind and hybrid projects. I,
again, I think this is overall a good move on their part. Joel
Saxum: I like to see that they're trying to technologically
diversify themselves. And one of my big pushes right now in the
market is. Batteries, battery energy storage system. So baths or
whatever you want to call it. They're about 6 percent batteries in
their 2028 portfolio is the plan. So from, if we look back just a
few years ago, there was barely any companies with any kind of
battery storage built into them, and I think that's a bigger part
of the renewable energy mix in the future, so I'm glad to see
they're putting some capital towards it.