By Ron Bousso
LONDON (Reuters) -BP has entered South Korea's offshore wind sector after acquiring a stake in Norwegian group Deep Wind Offshore's portfolio of projects in the country, as the British energy firm continues its expansion in the fast-growing renewables market.
BP (LON:BP) bought a 55% stake in Deep Wind Offshore's early-stage offshore wind portfolio, which includes four projects across the Korean peninsula with a potential generating capacity of up to 6 gigawatts, it said in a statement.
South Korea is targeting almost 22% of its energy to come from renewable sources by 2030 and is expected to become a leading offshore wind market.
The four projects are a mix of fixed-bottom offshore wind and floating turbines, a nascent technology that remains significantly more expensive, BP's head of offshore wind Matthias Bausenwein told Reuters.
All four projects are expected to meet BP’s internal rate of returns of 6% to 8%, he said. Permitting for the projects is already underway.
Bausenwein would not give a precise timeline for the development of any of the projects, but said the partners aimed to "contribute to the Korean power market by the end of the decade."
BP, which already has offshore wind projects in Europe and the United States, aims to rapidly grow its installed renewable energy capacity to 10 gigawatts by 2030 from around 2.2 gigawatts at the end of 2022 as part of its strategy to slash greenhouse gas emissions.
Last week Chief Executive Bernard Looney rowed back on plans to sharply cut the company's oil and gas output.
Privately-owned Deep Wind Offshore is headquartered in Norway, where it is also developing wind projects.