Tenaga Nasional Bhd’s (TNB) wholly-owned subsidiary, Vantage RE Ltd (Vantage RE) enhances TNB’s renewable energy (RE) portfolio and net-zero goals with the acquisition of a 49 per cent stake in the UK’s Blyth Offshore Demonstrator Limited (BODL), an offshore wind farm company, from EDF Renewables (EDFR), a subsidiary of French utility company Électricité de France (EDF).
In a statement today, TNB said the acquisition, which was sealed on Oct 18, 2021, marks TNB’s maiden entry into the international offshore wind market as BODL currently owns offshore wind assets off Blyth, Northumberland, England.
“The assets include five turbines with a total installed capacity of 41.5 megawatt (MW) (Blyth 1) and further development rights for a floating offshore wind project of up to 58.4MW (Blyth 2) located off Northumberland.
“The five 8.3MW turbines of Blyth 1 are installed with gravity-based foundations, which use a concrete load to keep the turbines securely in place without penetrating the seabed.
“The wind farm has been in operation since 2017 under the Renewable Obligation Certificates (ROC) subsidy regime that is expected to provide stable revenues,” it said, adding that Blyth 2 is an innovative floating offshore wind project currently in the early stage of development.
TNB said the acquisition is one of the planned strategic acquisitions for the national utility company to accelerate its journey in delivering on its environmental, social and governance (ESG) vision.
“Last year, TNB announced its Sustainability Pathway, a blueprint with an aspiration to achieve net zero emissions by 2050.
“The Sustainability Pathway is underpinned by a commitment to reduce 35 per cent of TNB’s emissions intensity as well as 50 per cent of coal generation capacity by 2035,” it said.
Vantage RE was launched on July 1, 2021 to own, operate and manage TNB’s portfolio of RE assets in the United Kingdom and Europe. To date, it has achieved a 530.4MW RE portfolio, including offshore wind, onshore wind and solar farms in the UK.
It said as at December 2021, TNB has a total RE capacity of 3,487.2MW, including 2,771.4MW in Malaysia and 715.8MW across the UK, Turkey and India, and is targeting to grow its RE capacity to 8,300MW by 2025.
Locally, TNB’s RE mix includes hydroelectric and large scale solar (LSS) plants. TNB also offers “beyond kWh” kilowatt hour (kWh) solutions such as rooftop solar solutions, energy audits, and a digital marketplace for RE certificates.
TNB is also looking at the adoption of new technologies such as energy storage system to enhance the grid’s flexibility and address the intermittency issue in RE.