General – Dispute
BP is trying to block the development of part of a giant wind farm in waters off England’s east coast, according to Denmark’s Ørsted.
Both companies have secured rights to the seabed about 70 kilometers (44 miles) from the Yorkshire coast. Ørsted is seeking to build a project using the ocean floor, and BP wants to store carbon dioxide beneath it.
Their dispute shows a conflict between two competing technologies that are key to British plans to eliminate carbon emissions this decade: offshore wind and capturing emissions from industry.
BP is trying to ‘force exclusion’ so Ørsted can’t install wind turbines in an area where the two projects overlap, according to a document from the Danish company published last Thursday by the U.K. government’s Planning Inspectorate.
The wind project in question is known as Hornsea Project Four, which is set to have about 2.6 gigawatts of capacity when constructed, possibly later this decade.
London-based BP is working on one of two major carbon-capture projects the U.K. government is funding to trap emissions from industrial installations and store them under the North Sea.
“We’re confident that an agreement can be reached to allow both projects to move forward,” a spokesperson for Ørsted said in a statement emailed Friday. “The technology exists to allow offshore wind and CCUS to work in harmony, but genuine collaboration is needed to safeguard future projects.”
BP says it is committed to finding a resolution to this issue and a mutually acceptable outcome through the ongoing commercial discussions.
